Righting Wrongs
by SophomoresTheory
Summary: Liv Curtis is not thrilled when her father, Ponyboy, moves her to Tulsa. She is less thrilled when two greasers and a soc begin to show up in her dreams begging her to travel back in time to the 60's to prevent 3 deaths that never should have occured. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Tell me if you like it! At least give it a chance and read to the dream scene, that's where most the dialogue starts! But don't skip the background either…**

***Full Summary***

**When Olivia Curtis' father, Ponyboy, moves her back to Tulsa, Oklahoma with him she tries to get over her bitterness and start over. It's not easy with her father and the remains of his old gang being the only people she knows, but it gets harder when two greasers and a soc keep showing up in her dreams begging her to go back to the 1950's and fix their deaths, which were apparently never supposed to happen. Live continues to refuse, not wanting to get caught up in their problems, but one night after falling asleep in her own bed she finds herself waking up in the 1950's. Liv has the chance to save three lives, Bob, Johnny and Dallas, but can she keep her own in the process? **

Olivia walked down her street in Arizona for what could be the last time. The sun warmed her face, and while she knew that that the sun shined in Tulsa, Oklahoma too, she just couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't be the same.

She looked down to the end of her street where the large moving van was parked in the driveway of what would never again be her house. She grimaced as she watched her long time neighbor, Mrs. Mason, try desperately to flirt with her father for one last time before he and Liv left for Tulsa.

She gave one last glance back at the house that she was coming from, the house that she had spent her last day in Arizona in. It sat five houses down the street from her own, and it was where her closest friend had lived for years. Liv had been a resident of Arizona since she was five and her father had moved her here with him. Liv wasn't what you'd call a 'planned' baby. Her mother had gotten pregnant the year her dad started college and then died while giving birth to her. While it was a tragic death, her parents hadn't been in love and it hadn't scarred either her or her father. She had missed the idea of having a mother, but hadn't missed her own mother specifically. How could she? She hadn't known the woman. She had a few pictures but that was all. Her father had tried to find her more but there just weren't many left. Apparently her mother hadn't liked posing for photos.

Even though her dad had suddenly had a surprise daughter to deal with, her Uncle Darry was going to get Ponyboy through college, come hell or high water. For the first four years of her life she had been raised by her Uncles Darry and Sodapop, along with Darry's wife Alana as well as her uncle's friends, Two-Bit Matthews (his real name was Keith) and Steve Randal while her father had visited her on weekends and breaks from college. She didn't remember much at all, (who does from that age?) nothing but flashes of images, mostly of her uncles smiling at her. When her father finished college he picked her up and they moved to Arizona. They'd been here ever since, the last time she had seen her aunt and uncles was Christmas when she was six. Now she was 16. It wasn't that her father didn't want her to see them, in fact her father encouraged family more than anyone else she'd ever met, but they just didn't have enough time or money to be traveling back and forth every few months.

Liv sighed as she reached the end of the road, so to speak. Without a word she climbed into the large moving van, the one that now held the entire life of both herself and her father, and wondered how it all fit.

She had given up. Given up on arguing and fighting and screaming. Given up on crying and begging for her father to stay. He got a job offer in Tulsa and jumped at the chance to go back, they were even moving to the same street as her uncles Darry and Sodapop lived, the same street her dad had grown up on. That was the reason she had eventually relented, because she knew he missed them, his brothers and his friends. She knew that he had grown up and left the nest and now all he wanted to do was go back.

Her dad _was_ an amazing dad. He talked to her, helped her with her problems, gave her advice, and told her he loved her and that he was glad she was born, even if she was an 'accident', but Liv always thought that he felt guilty for taking her away from Uncle Darry when she was a baby. From the way he told her the story, she had cried nonstop for days, screaming for Darry and Sodapop and Alana and even Two-Bit and Steve. She could just imagine her terrified 22 year old father desperately cradling a screaming toddler in one hand and a phone in the other begging for advice. She was also pretty sure that her Aunt Alana had something to do with their moving back, there came a point when her father must have realized that no matter how much he wanted to be all she needed; there was a gaping hole that only a strong female role model could fill, and Alana was one of the strongest women Liv knew. Well, she hadn't talked to her in person for ten years, but still.

Her Aunt Alana had been a greaser. She survived the mean streets of Tulsa, and eventually met and married her Uncle Darry. Neither Darry nor Sodapop had any kids; her dad told her that Darry said that he'd had enough when he raised Olivia and that her Uncle Sodapop would never settle down long enough to have a kid. Apparently even at age 36 he was a real tom cat.

So to Tulsa they went. Her dad climbed into the driver's side silently. Liv thought that maybe he sensed she was barely hanging on and didn't want to disturb the calm. Wise choice, she thought. Just because she understood why he was doing this to her didn't make her any happier about it. She was about to start her junior year at a high school where she knew nobody. At least the summer had just begun so she had a few months to make some friends.

She and her father checked into a hotel after around six hours of driving. It took extra-long because the desk clerk insisted on flirting with Liv's dad. She would admit that at thirty-four, her dad was still attractive. He had dark hair that matched hers with a minimal amount of gray and striking green eyes that she had inherited as well; they were both the father and the daughter's most attractive feature. Other than her coloring Liv supposed she looked like her mother, at least from what she could tell from the grainy photographs. Her features were small and feminine and just too fragile to compare with her father's strong, masculine ones. She had a petite body with delicate bone structure and dainty little hands and feet. Her father often compared her to a porcelain doll.

It was about a fourteen hour drive from her old home in Arizona to Tulsa, so they were expected to arrive tomorrow. She still wasn't sure how she felt about seeing her family. She didn't even know these people, the people that raised her for the first four years of her life.

The next morning she was gently awakened by her father at the crack of dawn, "C'mon Livi-girl you can sleep in the car." So, blind and barely awake, Liv stumbled out of the hotel and climbed into the moving van. Her dad had sold their car when they were in Arizona; he said they'd buy a new one when they got to Tulsa. She suspected this was a form of bribery, as he knew that she _hated _their old Chevrolet Chevette; she'd sooner drive a beat up old pickup.

Even though the front seat of the moving van offered no ideal sleeping positions Liv was so exhausted from traveling and hadn't slept well the night before that it didn't take long before she passed out.

For the first time in a while Liv dreamed. She was at the airport which was odd, because the only time she'd ever been to the airport before was to welcome home her friend Beth from a two week long trip spent in Washington D.C. the summer after eighth grade.

She was anxious, she was waiting for someone, but she didn't know who. Around her people rushed to get to where they needed to be, each person tightly clutched a ticket in their hand, their eyes darting around as if they were afraid someone would try to steal it, but Liv's attention was quickly draw and captured by a door, half hidden behind a maze of desks that were manned only by one female employee with long dark hair pulled into a conservative ponytail. There, it was that door; whoever she was waiting for would be coming through that door, she could feel it. Not knowing what else to do she walked over to the waiting area and sat where the people who were meeting relatives at the airport gathered. She concentrated on the door, wondering who would come out of it. Her attention was so focused on the odd door that she barely registered when two people took the seats on either side of her, or the man who stood behind her.

"Whatcha' waitin' for sweetheart?" Asked the boy on her right. She whirled toward him and stared, she had never seen anything like him, yet he was…vaguely familiar. He reminded her of an elf, he was pale with almost unnaturally blond hair, nearly white. His features were pointed and screamed untrustworthy, but it was his eyes that caught and held her attention. They were black and desolate but there was this slight spark of warmth that made his entire appearance more comfortable, an oasis in the middle of the desert. He was dressed in the same style clothes her father wore in old pictures, except he had a black leather bomber jacket to complete his outfit and black, lace up work boots.

"I…I don't know." She told the boy.

He snickered, "Ponyboy's kid, huh? Not to sharp is she, Johnnycake?"

_Johnnycake?_ The name most definitely rang a bell with her, but just like with the blond boy she couldn't place it into any context.

"Dallas, hush. Don't mind him," Now Liv looked to her left. From all the things she read in those _Cosmo _magazines her father didn't know she had, it seemed that this boy_ should_ be the scarier one of the two. He had dark coloring, so dark she wondered what race he was. It made him look more mysterious. His hair was midnight black but what really set off the warning bells were the scars. This boy was heavily scarred. There was a nasty cut under his right eye and around his neck Liv could see serious burn wounds that disappeared into the collar of his shirt. He was obviously in charge, or at least the blond boy, Dallas, listened to him, and Liv got the feeling that he didn't listen to many people. If it weren't for his eyes this boy would be more dangerous looking. His eyes just didn't look menacing; they were too kind, too gentle. He was dressed similarly to the other boy but he wore an old jean jacket that looked too small on him.

"Ponyboy? You know my dad?" Liv looked back to Dallas.

"'Course we do! Grew up with, didn't we Johnny?" The boy's slight southern twang and improper grammar certainly matched what the residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma had, but Dallas had this devil may care attitude about him that Liv didn't like one bit. She felt like he was telling a joke that everyone was in on but her.

Instead of talking to Dallas she turned to the dark boy, Johnny, "What do you want?" She asked.

"Your help," Johnny said. Liv looked between the boys, confused.

"My help? I don't understand. Who are you exactly? Why do you need my help?"

Johnny smiled at her, "I'm Johnny Cade mam'," He bowed his head slightly to Liv and then nodded to the blond, "and this here is Dallas Winston. We were part of your dad's crew when we were growing up."

"Ah hem." The polite cough came from behind her and Liv turned to see a third boy, but this one looked different. He wore one of those old plaid shirts—what were they called? Madras!—and had the unmistakable air of someone who grew up with money and no curfew. He had brown hair and heavy brows and was missing the rugged, scuffed look the other two had but radiated something just as dangerous, though not as powerful.

Johnny glanced at him and opened his mouth, presumably to introduce him but Dallas beat him to the punch, "This here is the_ idiot _soc who got us into this mess in the first place. And—what's your name again?"

Johnny rolled his eyes. "This is Bob Sheldon." Bob stuck out his hand but Liv just stared at it. She wanted to wake up and go back to her dad. This dream was creeping her out. And what was a soc?

"Well," Dallas said, "As to why we need you, that lady up at the desk, you see her? Well it's like this, she's in charge, the one who decides who gets to go through that door." He gestured to the door that had captured Liv's attention. "One of her requirements is that you have to be living. We're dead."

Liv blinked at him and Bob stepped in, "But we're not supposed to be! Each of us was supposed to live. Our death spun the cosmos outta' wack, someone upstairs fucked up big time."

Johnny shot Bob a harsh look, "Don't curse in front of Pony's daughter!"

It occurred to her then that she hadn't introduced herself, "I'm Olivia, but you can call me Liv."

Johnny smiled and nodded, "Okay, we're running out of time. I'll make it quick, this airport? It's where you go when you die." Liv's eyes widened but Johnny continued, "You die, come here and get on a plane to go to your next life. Most of these doors lead to the plane that'll take you to your after life; you know whatever you deserve and what not." As insane as this was, Liv followed the logic of the crazy dream boy and nodded, "When you die you get the ticket and you go to the gate you're supposed to go; only we weren't supposed to die so when we got here we had no tickets waiting for us. The only way to fix this is to make it so our deaths never happen." Liv stared at him and Dallas picked up were Johnny stopped.

"The only way to do that is through that door over there." He pointed to the door that Liv had been drawn to. "It'll take you back in time and then you're left to own devices to fix this fucked up situation. So I said, 'Alright lady, lemme' through, I'll take care of this!' and she was all 'there are rules of who can and can't pass through the door, Mr. Winston.' And there is no was she'll bend those rules, I've been flirting with her for 20 years and she won't budge! Turns out you gotta' be living!" Dallas started to curse whoever made the guidelines for the afterlife and behind Liv, Bob began to talk.

"If we went back through that door it wouldn't do any good, no one would be able to see us, we'd be ghosts, and we can't use anyone who was alive during the same time period because there are consequences for having two of the same people in one time period. Then there's this weird rule about how whoever goes back had to be connected to us somehow."

Dallas nodded and rejoined the explanation process, "_That_ is why we need you. We've been waiting for one of our moron friends to have kids _for years _so one could help us. We've been stuck in this _hellhole for years!_" Dallas raised his voice on the last part and threw his words in the direction of the airline employee at the desk.

She smiled faintly and without looking up said, "There are worse places than here, Mr. Winston. Planes depart for them every day."

"Yeah, yeah," Dallas waved away her comment and refocused on Liv, "Anyway, apparently all the wimpy socs were scarred for life by our deaths because none of them were willing to give birth and so we had to rely on the greasers. Honestly, I still can't believe that it was Ponyboy who knocked some girl up when he was eighteen!" Johnny shot Dallas a glare, "I mean my money was on Soda!"

Suddenly the edges of the airport began to blur Jonny looked up at her with urgency in his eyes, "Remember what we told you and go to the library look us up! We'll see you soon!" Dallas smirked as Liv fervently hoped not. She didn't need weird boys haunting her dreams asking her to go back in time and save them. In fact, that dream was completely insane and so far off what she normally dreamed that before she had fully awakened she had already decided that it must have been the stress of the move that caused it. That or she ate something that didn't agree with her.

The scene faded out and was replaced by the inside of the moving van with her dad in the driver's seat.

Liv woke up slowly and stretched. Her dad looked over and smiled at her, "Hey baby girl, we're in Tulsa. We'll be home in about ten minutes; everyone's waiting to help us move in!" Her father's excitement was infectious, and Liv decided to put the odd dream out of her mind and focus on the future. Tulsa couldn't be so bad, she reasoned, not as long as her dad was with her. And she was excited to see the Uncles again, including Two-Bit and Steve.

She shook off the last of the dream and stared out the window, trying to memorize the area around her until her father pulled into what she assumed would be their new home, where several adults lounged in the driveway.

**Hey Review Tell me if it's worth continuing…?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, thanks so much for all the reviews, I take each one into consideration, so I have a few changes to make.**

**Thanks to TheWierdoOutsideYourBedroom for pointing out that the Outsiders is set in the 60's, not the 50's. 65 to be exact. Several people actually caught that (Sorry...) but TheWeirdo was the first. I'll be sure to change that.**

**And to SodapopGirl17, I promise to try not to make her a Mary-Sue; these next chapters will give her more personality, I hope. I want to make her average, like the kind of girl who really **_**doesn't **_**want to be dragged back in time to fix some dead boy's problems, and maybe a teensy bit sarcastic. **

Liv opened the door and gently stepped down from the moving van. Her dad had rushed out to greet the adults with a bear hug. She could hear loud remarks like, "Ponyboy it's been years!" and, "It's great to have you back, brother!"

Liv stayed behind the moving van and inspected the small crowd. She remembered enough flashes and had seen enough pictures to puzzle out who was who. The woman was obviously her Aunt Alana. She had long dark hair, kind of like the woman behind the desk at the airport. Liv blinked and shook her head. Now was not the time for that! Her Aunt Alana, though past her prime, was still an unusually beautiful woman, but she had this tough love air about her that Liv assumed one could only pick up when one grew up on the streets.

She could also assume that man with his arm around her aunt was her uncle, Darry. Darry didn't look like her dad. His facial features were masculine like her fathers but his were tougher, less refined. Darry looked strong for a guy in his late thirties; he had _a lot _of muscle. Hell, he was _ripped._ Her dad was in shape and had a good build but it was nothing compared to Darry.

Her dad had told her quite a bit about her uncle Darry, he said that Darry prided himself on his physique but also on his brains. He told her not to make any slights on his intelligence, or else she'd end up like Steve.

Her dad never told her what happened to Steve.

Despite that, she felt a sort of understanding for the man. Liv and her dad got along well but they were _very _different people. She was more realistic, her feet were firmly planted on the ground while her father had his head in the clouds half the time. Her dad often told Liv that she reminded him of his brother Darry. She thought that maybe it came from being raised by him in her formative years, but she would _never _say that to her father.

The next man over, the one who was currently hugging her dad, was definitely her Uncle Sodapop. At thirty-six the man still radiated charm. He was leaner than Darry but still had muscles, more like her father. He looked more like Liv's dad too, with a strong jaw bone and high cheek bones.

It was the last two that she had a problem with. She knew that one was Uncle Two-Bit and that the other was Uncle Steve and she'd seen plenty of pictures of the two but she just couldn't quite recall which one was the loud, boisterous Two-Bit and which was the sullen, miracle mechanic Steve. In the end she just assumed (and rightly so) that the mechanic was the one with the slight grease stain on the back of his neck, as if he had rubbed his grease covered hands over it. The other one had pulled her father into a large bear hug and from what dad had told Liv, she just couldn't see Steve doing that.

Two-Bit was, like the rest of them, overly attractive for an older guy. Jeez, she thought, what is up with Tulsa? Must be something in the water, she mused, but if it was the water that was keeping these guys young she knew what she'd be drinkin' for the rest of her life. Two-Bit was around 6'2 and had rusty colored hair. If he hadn't been so tall she was sure he would've been stalky and thicker around the middle. Liv hazily remembered him…giving her candy? Something like that.

Steve had curly coffee colored hair with streaks of gold running through it. He had thick arms that Liv guess he got from working on cars with her Uncle Soda. Soda and Steve ran the garage of and old gas station called the DX. Apparently the garage was booming, and according to her dad those two could fix anything on wheels. Liv's dad thought that maybe it would be an interesting way to bond with her Uncle Soda, hanging out at the garage and working on cars. Liv didn't really care learn about cars, but she needed somewhere to hang out during the summer where she could meet kids her age.

She took a deep breath and surveyed the scene. How was she supposed to act? She didn't _know_ these people. Did they want to run into their arms and tell them how much she missed them, because that was not going to happen.

As Steve clapped her father on the back her Aunt Alana tugged on Uncle Darry's arm and nodded to Liv. Darry turned toward her and his face lit up; Liv was reminded that this _was _the man who had raised her from the time she was an infant to her four-year-old birthday and felt a rush of guilt for her earlier thoughts.

"Livi-girl?" Her Uncle Darry asked as Liv nervously fidgeted with the hem of her shorts. She remembered flashes of afternoons spent with her Uncle Darry reading her stories while she sat on his lap. She recalled vaguely that she could never sit still and would wriggle and squirm unless it was Uncle Soda who was reading, because he read the different characters voices.

"Olivia!" Two-Bit called, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Hey, there baby girl! Remember me? I'm your favorite uncle! I used to give you candy all the time!" Actually she did remember that, now that he mentioned it. He had slipped her candy from the time she was two years old, she remembered how he had made a game out of it. He used to put it in his pocket and she had to get it out without him noticing. She now realized that he was trying to teach her how to pickpocket. Once she started to think about it, she_ was_ pretty good at stealing, not that she made a habit of it.

Her Uncle Darry looked like he had been about to say something to her but stopped mid breath and swung toward Two-Bit, "That was _you?_ _You're _the reason she would _never _fall asleep until one in the morning?" Darry looked pissed. Actually he wasn't the only one, neither Soda nor Steve looked very happy either.

Alan rolled her eyes and smiled at Liv. She stepped forward and pulled Liv into an awkward hug and said, "It's so good to see you again, sweetie."

Darry smiled and turned away from Two-Bit, "You've grown up." Uh, duh, Liv thought, but didn't say aloud. Soda took care of that for her.

"Of course she looks older! It's been ten years!" Her Uncle Soda smiled. Liv swallowed and smiled but it was awkward and stiff. She couldn't bring herself to do much more, it was like one of those horrible family reunions where you're expected to know everyone even if you've never laid eyes on them, except worse because all these people had raised her and she hardly remembered most of it.

Her father seemed to notice that it would take time for her to be comfortable around his family and suggested that they start unpacking. Liv seized the opportunity to turn away and busy her hands with boxes that contained her and her father's lives.

Everyone grabbed a box, each one had Liv's father's messy handwriting scribbled across the cardboard with words like 'Living Room' and 'Liv's'. None of the boxes had Liv's writing on them because she had refused to help her father pack, it had been her last form of resistance.

Liv started with all the boxes that had her name on them, she dragged them down to the tiny room at the end of the hall on the first floor. It wasn't much, but it was hers. _Atta' way to stay positive, Liv!_ She thought.

When she was finished with that she started grabbing boxes at random. One had 'Kitchen' scrawled across it she pulled it out of the van and nearly dropped it on her toe. Trapping the box between herself and the van she lowered it gently to the ground. Opening the flap on the box she discovered it was filled with plates and silverware. Who knew forks could be so heavy? Liv probably should have gone to her dad then and asked for help but she was still feeling and little spiteful and she wanted to prove that she'd be fine on her own.

So after ten minutes of pushing, sweating, and grunting she'd managed to slide the box all the way up to the porch before she encountered the steps. It took three steps to get from the ground up to her porch and into the house and there was no way she could lift it. Still panting she took a step back and surveyed the box and the steps, looking for any possible solution to this problem that didn't involve calling her dad or breaking her back.

She couldn't think of any.

She peered around the side of the house, wondering if there was another entrance she could use. She was so absorbed in her predicament that she didn't notice her Uncle Darry holding a box under one arm and watching her with an amused expression.

She turned around and blinked at her Uncle Darry, then turned back to her task, stubbornly refusing to look back at him and continued to evaluate her options.

She stood deep in thought and heard her Uncle Darry chuckle behind her. He walked in front of her and picked up the box as if it weighed nothing, carrying it just into the house and setting it on the ground for her. Without a word he walked onto the kitchen, depositing his own box.

Liv smiled, _well; maybe they would get along after all._ She watched him walk somewhere deeper into the house, probably to discuss something with her father, but Liv trusted that Darry wouldn't tell him about the box. If he did, Liv knew that her father wouldn't understand why she hadn't called for him, not the way it seemed her Uncle Darry did.

Liv managed to move the box from the front door to the kitchen with great difficulty. She wiped the sweat off her brow and left the box in the kitchen, she had completed her mission; someone else could do the actual unpacking.

She walked briskly back out to the van; after the last box was brought in only the furniture would be left, and she figured that the furniture would be best left to the adults.

Outside the van Sodapop and Steve stood, both were holding a chair under each arm. Soda looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey Liv! Come here and take the last box inside for us." Liv smiled; Soda's energy was catching.

She walked up to the back of the van and climbed in. Leaning over she pulled the box toward her, and slid back out hopping to the ground. This box was heavy but not as much as the other one. It had no words to identify what was inside it but whatever it was it was solid and thick, like hard cover books.

"Hey Liv," Soda said as Steve began to walk toward the house, "It's not so bad here, I promise you'll love it."

She smiled for his sake, and agreed, "Sure, I bet!"

Soda seemed to sense that she had her reservations and suddenly his face lit up, like he had a brilliant idea, "Come to work with me tomorrow! There's a great kid that works part time at the garage, I'll introduce you! You'll love him, best friends in no time!"

No. No! No,_ no, no, no!_ She did not want her uncle to have to introduce her to her first friend! And if the boy worked for him he'll probably think that he has to be friends with her or she'll complain to her uncle and get him fired. How pathetic was that? But her Uncle was already walking away, satisfied that he would be helping his niece fit in.

Liv rubbed her hands over her face, mortified. Maybe she would talk to her dad later and have him intervene, although that totally went against her 'show dad I can take of myself plan'. Sighing she picked up the book box and carried it inside. She wasn't sure where it should go, it could be a mix of her and her father's books, so she brought it to her room planning to sort through it.

She kicked open her door. Her room was the smaller bedroom of the two bedroom house, but that was to be expected. What wasn't expected was how small it really was. Her father had described it to her as cozy when he returned from his trip to Tulsa to buy the house; she should have known he was sugar coating it. The room was cramped.

It had a few pieces of furniture in it, a bed, a desk and chair, and a dresser. Her Uncles had furnished the place while she and her father were in Arizona so that they could move in right away. They had only brought with them the furniture that had been in the best condition, which meant some dining chairs, their couch and her father's old recliner, which he just couldn't bear to part with. They sold the rest of their furniture, like their beds.

She set the heavy box on her bed and opened the flaps to reveal the inside. To her surprise the box wasn't filled with books, it was filled with albums. Photo Albums to be exact.

The one on top looked the newest; at least the style was much more recent than the others. Pulling it open she smiled at the first picture.

Then entire gang stood in front of what she thought was her Uncle Darry's house. In the corner of the picture a much younger Steve and Sodapop seemed to be wrestling with each other, Soda had his arm locked around Steve's neck, and he was smiling at the camera while Steve pulled at his arm and prepared to elbow him in the gut.

Darry and Alana stood off to the side, they seemed unaware that a picture was being taken; each was lost in the other's eyes. Liv laughed, this must be when they were newlyweds.

Two-Bit sat relaxing on the ledge of the porch, drinking a beer and watching the fight between Soda and Steve.

Lastly, the real focus of the picture, her eighteen year old father stood, proudly holding baby Liv in his arms. He looked happy, Liv thought. Her infant self looked up at Pony with adoration, perfectly content to sit and stare at her dad for days on end.

She flipped through the book, grinning as some of the pictures triggered memories. Nothing substantial, just images, sometimes tastes or smells. It seemed that after the first picture her father left for college because he wasn't in many afterwards.

She picked up one picture of Darry holding her. She looked about three years old. She wore a pretty yellow dress, and was in the midst of a tantrum. Kicking and screaming, she refused to look at Soda while made a funny faces; trying to cheer her up. Flipping it over she read what was on the back,

_Look at how much she misses you already. We miss you too!_

_Hope you're havin fun at college, Darry says to study._

_Love,_

_Soda, Darry, Two-Bit, Steve, Alana and baby Liv._

She quickly put the photo back into the album. After finishing that one she fished out another, and another and another. They were all similar but she loved looking at them. She wondered why her father had never shown her these before.

After she finished the fourth one she looked into the box to discover that there was only one left.

Carefully she picked it up, rubbing her hand over the worn leather and opened the cover. The spine of the book creaked and Liv jumped, suddenly worried someone would catch with the book. She felt like she was doing something she wasn't supposed to, which was weird because she hadn't felt that way with any of the other ones.

She brushed aside her fears and focused on the book. The pictures were worn and older than the others. This one looked to be from her father's childhood, not her own. The margins of each picture had a caption with the names of who was in the picture and the dates the picture was taken, which was good because she wouldn't be able to recognized very many faces; only her dad, Uncles, and Two-Bit and Steve.

The beginning of the book had pictures mostly of her dad and Uncles. There were two people she didn't know, the caption on the side said;

'_Mom, Dad, Pony and Soda. _

_Christmas '57' _

It was her grandma and grandpa. She didn't know much about them. As she moved on she saw different boys and girls; but the pictures were taken from ten or fifteen feet away to capture every person within the frame, and that combined with the age of the photos made it impossible to distinguish any facial features. She stopped trying and instead studied their person. They were all dressed in slightly worn and shabby looking clothes. This didn't surprise her; she knew that her father had grown up relatively poor. The girls were dressed in very tight, revealing clothes that her father would never let her out in. She once went to a big Halloween party dressed in a tight fairy costume and her father had a fit when she got home. He started yelling that she was never aloud out again and that he would be buying her clothes from now on. Then he reminded her that he grew up in a rough neighborhood and he could handle a blade just fine, in case any boys started showing up at their house.

As she went deeper into the album there were more close ups, she smiled when she saw pictures of her dad or uncles. There were a lot taken at the DX and what looked like a drive in movie theatre. As she turned the page she stopped cold.

One picture dominated the page. It was a head shot of two boys, boys she knew instantly. She didn't have to age them or look for identifying characteristics because she had seen these boys exactly as they were in the picture no more than four or five hours ago. She read the caption on the bottom of the page.

_Johnny and Dally, '_ _65. _

_Stay gold and rest in peace._

Liv blinked back a rush of sadness as she recognized her father's handwriting. So they _were_ real; or, at least, they _had _been real. She wondered how they died and why her father never told her about them. She wondered how exactly they wound up in her dream.

She swallowed and told herself to knock it off. She must have seen a picture of them somewhere before, when she was young, and just forgot about it. Then when they moved back to Tulsa her brain just brought it up because it was something associated with the new place she was living. Of course, that must be it.

Still, it didn't make her feel any better, it didn't banish the churning in her stomach and it didn't diminish the growing sense of sorrow she felt for the boys in the picture. They were obviously happy and she was willing to bet that there death hadn't been a peaceful one.

She took a death breath but nearly fell out of bed when she heard her father call, "Liv?" and his footsteps coming closer to the door.

"Uh, j-just a second!" She stashed the album back with the others and shoved the box onto the floor on the other side of her bed so it wasn't visible from the door. A moment later her father entered.

"Hey honey. We're going over to Darry's to eat dinner, do you want to come?"

She knew it was rude to deny the invitation but she didn't want to sit and make nice with a bunch of people she didn't know, didn't remember. "Um, dad? Could I just stay here? It's been a long day…" Liv blinked her big eyes at her father and mentally begged him to let her off.

He smiled and took pity on her, "I know this is hard, Liv, but it'll be good for us!"

She nodded; anything to get her father to leave.

He smiled, "I heard you're going with Soda to work tomorrow? Good for you, he'll introduce you to some kids."

"Yeah dad." He waited, then seemed to realize that he wouldn't get any more from her so instead he pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and breathed in his scent for only a moment before pulling away. "I'm tired."

"We'll be two houses down, okay hun? There should be enough snacks in the kitchen to tide you over." Her dad smiled, leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left.

She looked at the box, safely stashed behind her bed. Why had she hid them? Why didn't she give the albums to her father for him to store? She shook her head. She knew why. She had never seen those albums before and there was a reason for that. Her father had kept them from her. He hadn't wanted her to see them. Maybe because it was too painful, she didn't know, but what she did know was that they were now her's. She hid them in her closet before crawling into bed, hoping and praying that she wouldn't dream tonight.

**Hey sorry there will be more dialogue next time! If you like it, review! If you don't, go away. Remember, the more reviews I have the more I'll want to update.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Thanks to all those people who reviewed and who added this story to their favorite stories or story alert! **

**More people are reading this than are reviewing. If you read it and you like it then review! It helps, if nothing else it motivates!**

***PONY'S P.O.V.***

Pony stumbled home around one a.m. He hadn't meant to stay out so late but he had just got to talkin' with Darry and Soda and the others and he got caught up. He hoped that Liv wasn't awake waiting for him.

He peeked into her room and found her fast asleep, the covers pulled up to her chin. He sighed, still feeling guilty over moving her away from the only home she knew. He felt _slightly_ better knowing that Soda would introduce her to what he described as 'good kids', although Pony was still sort of worried because around here 'good kid' had a very different definition. Still, his brother assured him that he would never introduce his only niece to a couple of hoods. Pony grimaced; his daughter was now, by definition, a greaser girl.

Tomorrow he had to start working. He was an accountant for a large firm. Soda was always surprised by his choice of work but Pony had reasons for what he chose. One was that he was good at it; you didn't _have _to have a personality like Darry to be good with numbers. Another was that it was reasonable; reasonable pay, reasonable hours and for a young, single father it was ideal. The most important reason, though, was that it _wasn't_ his whole life. His job _didn't_ consume him. The second he left the building he stopped being Mr. Curtis, accountant extraordinaire, and he was just Pony, or, more often, dad. He didn't take his work home with him. He couldn't, he had a beautiful daughter waiting for him and _she _deserved all his attention.

He walked over to bed and smoothed her hair off her forehead before giving her a kiss. He turned away and walked up to his room, hoping that tomorrow she would find friends; someone that would help her fit it.

He hoped she could be happy.

***LIV'S P.O.V.***

Liv rolled out of bed the next morning noticing that, for once, things seemed to go her way. She'd slept like the dead last night and had never been more thankful for it. She stretched and pried her eyes open before stumbling to the bathroom. She went through her morning routine, showering, brushing her hair and teeth, and getting dressed. She mentally thanked herself for unpacking her clothes yesterday so she didn't have to re-wear the same outfit as the day before.

She dressed simply, in a pair of high rise jean shorts and a white t-shirt leaving her wet hair down to air dry. She walked down the hall and into the kitchen where she could hear two male voices speaking to each other.

Her father stood drinking his usual cup of coffee, while Soda and Steve lounged in the chairs at the kitchen table. Her dad looked up when he heard her walk in and Soda and Steve turned around.

"Hey honey!" her dad said enthusiastically.

"Hey dad." She glanced down at her watch looking puzzled.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, I just didn't expect you to still be here when I got up. Didn't you say work started at eight? And that it's across town?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why?" her dad questioned.

She rolled her eyes, what would her dad do without her? "Daddy, its 7:50."

Ponyboy blinked once and then leapt in to the air, cursing. "Shit! Soda I gotta go—"

"Yeah, yeah," Soda and Steve laughed.

"—Uh, listen, there's a list of numbers in the laundry room if you need to get a hold of me! Soda's gonna take you work, maybe show ya' 'round a bit, _don't go off on your own!_ You understand, Olivia?" Yeah, her dad only used her full name when he was serious. He gave her a peck on the cheek before rushing outside to the ford they were borrowing from Uncle Darry till they got their own car.

She turned around and looked at her Uncles. Now it was her turn to blink. _Shit! _She had completely forgotten about Soda's take-your-niece-to-work-day idea. She thought that her dad would have gotten her out of it, but it looked like she was going to have to do this herself.

Now; what to say, what to say…she didn't have any other plans to use as an excuse. The only people she knew in this town were her relatives, so that was out. She finally decided on a sick day excuse; after all, no one could _disprove_ that she didn't feel well.

She coughed a few times before clearing her throat and turning to her uncles, "Well, I know that you had planned to take me—"

"Stop right there." Her Uncle Soda ordered. _Crap_, she thought. "Listen, Liv, you're going to have to do this _sometime. _You have the entire summer ahead of you, what do you plan to do for three months? Hide out inside your house?"

Liv chewed the inside of her lip. Her uncle did make a valid point. _Damn it._ Finally she made a big show of sighing and accepting that she would be spending the day with her Uncles Soda and Steve.

"C'mon," Said Steve, speaking to her for the first time. He rolled his eyes, "it won't be that bad."

She narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips. He didn't sound very sympathetic to her plight.

Soda laughed at the exchange and got up to rummage around the kitchen that he and Darry had stocked before they moved in. He pulled out several baking ingredients like eggs, flour, and…chocolate?

"Alright, Livi-girl, I'll make you chocolate cake for breakfast. Nothing can go wrong when you start the day with chocolate cake!"

Liv frowned at Soda. _Wanna' bet? _She thought.

Okay, so maybe chocolate cake wasn't the worst way to start out the morning, but it wouldn't make today any easier, Liv thought. She ate two giant pieces, two! If she got fat because of Uncle Soda he would get an earful from her!

"Go get your shoes, we gotta' get goin' or we'll be late!" Soda said and Steve cracked a smile at her exaggerated groan as she rushed back to her room to pull on a pair of old sneakers.

They left the house and Soda and Steve began to walk down the street. She still thought it was a little odd that they didn't drive but her dad had prepared her for this. It wasn't like back home where everyone drove when they needed to get somewhere; here everything you needed was pretty close considering half the town population stayed in the East and the other in the West. Something about gang wars and social classes that Liv didn't really pay attention to. Plus walking was cheaper.

At the end of the street they took a right that led them out of the residential area and into the business area. They passed small boutiques with the kind of clothes in display that her father would never let her buy, and a lot of bars. They all had big signs proclaiming open business but some looked to be falling into disrepair. The oldest they passed had a large neon sign that said 'The Dingo'. It looked as if someone was trying to clean the place up though.

Soda noticed her looking and leaned over, "That's where Two-Bit works. He's the barkeep. Don't even think about trying to get into one of those places, we'll know." Steve nodded to accentuate Soda's point, but they really didn't need to worry. She wasn't really into the bar scene, mostly because her group of friends back in Arizona just didn't do it. So she never did it.

Several people stopped to talk to Soda and Steve along the way, some people they introduced her to others they stepped protectively in front of her, as if to hide her from their view. One particularly creepy looking guy refused to take the hint and continued to try and prompt Soda and Steve into introducing her. Finally Steve crossed his arms in front of his chest, making his huge muscles bulge, and glared at the guy, daring him to keep talking. He left after that.

Liv grimaced; torn between annoyance at their over protective behavior and profound thankfulness that she didn't have to shake the last guy's hand.

Finally they arrived at the DX. She had carefully memorized the route for the next time she wanted to come here. She doubted that her dad, not to mention her uncles, would let her walk around alone anytime soon, but this babysitting thing had to end eventually. _I mean c'mon_, she thought_, I refuse to be the only 16, soon-to-be-17, year old girl who's escorted everywhere by an armed guard. _Though technically her uncles weren't armed. At least she didn't think so.

The DX was a medium sized building that was pretty old, at least if what her dad told her was true, but had been kept in immaculate condition. From what she could see the inside was a combination of a soda bar and a convenient store with several employees serving customers. Maybe she could get a job here, after all she had an in with the management.

The front of the DX was packed, mostly kids her age or young adults, but there seemed to be rising tensions between two groups. On the right stood a rather scruffy looking group, their clothes were stained with dirt or grease and they smoked cigarettes. They looked dangerous; they had a lot of muscle on them and the slouchy look of someone you shouldn't trust, but the way they stood was what caught her attention. They all angled their bodies so that they were in the best possible position to protect one another. It was kind of heartening to see.

The other group stood in more of a formation, behind their leader. Their clothes were nicer, spiffier, and at the height of fashion. They looked crueler than the rag tag group that opposed them but she wouldn't be so quick to count the scruffy group out.

"Dammit." Soda cursed under his breath.

Steve shrugged, "Not our job, not our problem." Soda's lips tightened but he nodded and tugged on Liv's shoulder.

Liv fought back a small wave of disappointment. It wasn't that she wanted to watch them fight; but she had wanted to see the underdogs win. Although remembering the rippling muscles on some of the guys she didn't think that they technically qualified as underdogs. Besides; from what little she had caught of her father's lecture she was pretty sure she was on their team. What were they called? Greeners? No. That couldn't be it. It was a stupid name; she refused to be a greener.

Her uncles led her around the main building to a little garage attached to the side. She could hear tools working and smell gasoline.

"Listen," Her Uncle Soda began, "we need to go pick up some parts for a car we're working on, okay? We're gonna introduce you to Messer and you'll have to hang out with him for a while."

"Okay." Liv says, looking at her uncle. Messer? She thought, what kind of name is that? Must be a nickname.

Steve led her into the garage, "Mess!" He yelled.

Liv heard a "Wha—" Followed by a loud clang and then an, "_Ow!" _

Steve rolled his eyes, "Jesus Christ." He stalked deeper into the garage and came back with a kid trailing him, both of his hands holding a place just above his right eye.

"—lucky you're a genius mechanic," Steve was saying. "Liv? Liv, this is Chuck Messer, just call him Messer. Listen I really gotta go, could you take care of this?" He asked gesturing toward the trickle of blood that was escaping from under the boy's hands. No, no she really couldn't, but she didn't say that. Instead she nodded, thinking how hard could it be_?_

Steve grinned and for the first time looked happy to have her in Tulsa with him, "Great! See ya' in a bit!" And with that he nearly skipped out the door.

Liv surveyed Chuck, or Messer as he seemed to be called. At first glance he looked younger than her, his cheeks were chubby and it could easily be mistaken for baby fat. As she looked closer thought she could see that he was probably the same age as she was, maybe a little older. He had dark caramel colored skin with black hair. His eyes were big and he had wide cheek bones with a smudge of grease on his left side. He was shorter than her, much shorter, which only served to emphasize his slight chubbiness. He wore a baggy mechanics uniform with the name MESSER embroidered across it. She wondered if the the uniform hid muscle or more baby fat.

"'Ay, sweetheart, I'm dying over here! A little less looky a little more fixy, eh?" She raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to call her 'sweetheart' again.

Messer smiled sheepishly. "Uh, can you please help? This hurts."

"That's better," She said approvingly. "I'm Liv; Soda's niece."

"Messer," He said sticking out a hand. She declined to shake it, as it was covered in blood. Sighing she grabbed the first aid kit that hung on the wall and opened it up rummaging around for the correct tools she needed to fix the gash on Messer's head.

"So, you going to school next year?" He asked as she started to clean the wound, hoping she was doing this right.

"Yeah, I'll be a junior." She responded. The boy seemed to perk up when he heard that.

"Me to; it'll be my second time through!" She laughed at his unabashed claim. "Don't worry," he was saying, "I'll show ya' _all _the ropes, you don't gotta thing to worry about! I know this town like the back of my hand! I can even help you out with the greasers and socs!"

Greaser? That was what they were called! Greasers was a whole lot better than greeners. By process of elimination she could assume the other group was the socs.

She tuned back into what Messer was saying, "I'm friends with Tommy Shepard, ya' know, t_he_ Tommy Shepard?" He stared at her blank face and correctly deduced that she didn't, in fact, know _the _Tommy Shepard. "He's the leader of the biggest greaser gang in Tulsa!" Messer boasted proudly.

"Yeah, the gangs…what's with that? The greasers and the socs?" She asked, hoping to get the whole story.

Messer's face lit up. She got the feeling that this was a favorite topic of his, the greasers and the socs. He started to chatter on and on about how the socs were the money in the town and that they got everything they wanted, with more than a few expletives she didn't care for. But the greasers, he said; they were the coolest guys around. He talked on and on about the fighting between the groups. He spoke of Tommy Shepard with a gleam of admiration in his eye, oh yeah; this guy definitely had a real case of hero worship for Shepard.

She asked about that and Messer's eyes got real big, reverent, "When I was way young, my older brothers were in jail for some robbery and I nearly got jumped by the socs." Shivers ran up her arms. The way he said it with such terror in his eyes made her swallow and the air around her chilly, "Tommy and his gang stopped those socy bastards _just_ in time. He said to me, 'you're Mike's little brother, Chuck, right?' And I said, 'people call me Messer.' and he laughed and said he been lookin' for me. To fix his car. Brought me back here and showed me to Soda. I been working here ever since. All the guys bring their cars to me 'cause they know I'm the best!"

Her respect for the greasers shot up a few notches. They were definitely a tight knit group, and now she was one of them!

Messer smiled at her awe, "Yep, they're some of the best guys around! They all dropped outta' school and I will too, soon if I can!"

_No_! She thought. She hadn't even been with the guy for an hour and he was growing on her. She didn't want to start school alone, and for some reason she just liked having Messer around.

"The only reason I haven't yet it that Soda said he'll fire me if I do!" Liv sighed with relief. Apparently some of Darry's high esteem for education had rubbed off on Soda. She finished cleaning and bandaging Messer's head while he talked about everything under the sun. It didn't take much prompting to switch him onto a new topic. The guy had so much pent up inside him that he seemed eager to get it all out. He didn't have many friends, he was the best mechanic around, besides Steve, and the younger brother of two guys who were currently in jail but whose skills were highly valued on the streets. Apparently it didn't matter how good you were with cars, people didn't appreciate a tag-along kid brother. She figured that was good for her, the greasers were a close knit community; she doubted even her families status could endear her to them quickly. It was nice to know she had someone to be an outcast with.

Messer wasn't a fighter. He had the muscles and the eagerness but the kid couldn't throw a punch, plus he was too slow, he told her. But what he lacked in fighting knowledge he more than made up for in street smarts. He knew everything about everyone, who was with who, who stole what from who and who was getting locked up where and why. He knew the streets of Tulsa better than even her uncles, Liv thought. He knew how to get to where and what the fastest way was. He knew what places to avoid (because of socs) and what time of day to do so. It boggled her mind.

"Hey, Mess." She asked, "What do you know about Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston?" She hadn't expected much, maybe for him to shrug and say he'd heard of them once or twice, but Messer's face lit up, like she had asked him if he wanted a free mustang.

"Oooh! That's one good story! Listen," He checked his watch, "It's lunch time, let's go to the diner across the street and I'll tell you everything I know about 'em!"

Liv nodded and said that sounded good to her, and they walked of the garage grinning and started toward the diner across the street. Liv couldn't help but think that maybe Tulsa wouldn't be so bad. Not with a friend like Chuck Messer.

**Ok, so I'm taking these chapters slow, not just gonna chuck Liv back into the 1960's without preparation.**

**I'm thinking Messer goes back in time with her. Together they save Dally, Johnny and Bob. He helps with his street smarts and gets to meet his hero's in the flesh. Yes or no? (On Messer going with her?)**

**Seriously. Re****member, everytime you read a chapter and don't review God kills a puppy. So get to it. Chop! Chop!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, Messer is definitely going along for the ride, you just let me worry about the why's and how's!**

**Sorry for those of you who didn't want him to come, but I like him so… ALSO, THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE. ESPECIALLY NOT BETWEEN MESSER AND LIV! I can put a sort of love interest in there for Liv if you guys want, but the focus of this story is not a romance! **

**Thanks to Yehhhok for your awesome review and all the suggestions! Also I really don't know where I got the name Messer from. Just came to me.**

Liv and Messer walked across the street still chatting, he asked her about her old life back in Arizona and before she knew it she told him about the move and leaving and how she was worried about coming here right before the start of junior year. Messer laughed and apologized for his rude first words to her again, and she laughed with him. His eyes sort of reminded her of a puppy's.

She walked a little in front of him and he trailed behind, following her like a lost dog. It reminded her of the stray cats around their old neighborhood that her dad had told her not to feed or else they would never leave her alone. She had fed Messer a few scraps of companionship and it seemed she would be stuck with him. She didn't really mind though, she liked Messer and she felt more secure in this new place with him around.

Along the short walk Messer pointed out some of the people on the street, being discreet of course, "That's Mikey Hollson, he's gotta mean right hook. Oh! Over there's Jackson Dunn, don't get into a fight with him. And there's Frankie Peltz, he don't look like much but he can take on half the guys here with a blindfold!" Messer proclaimed. Liv got the general idea; don't piss anyone off here because they're all bigger and stronger than you.

He pointed out some of the girls too, they all looked tough. There was no other way to put it. They wore tight clothes that made Liv feel childish in her simple white top, shorts and sneakers. Messer must have noticed her bout of insecurity because he looked her over and said, "Don't worry; you're definitely hotter than half the greaser girls."_ Only half_? She worried, and considering Messer was her only friend, he was obligated to be more bias on her behalf.

They entered the crowded diner; she noticed that this establishment was almost completely patronized by the scruffier half, the greasers. Guess that was why she and Messer were eating here. As soon as they crossed the threshold a group of boys who were crowded into the back corner booth began to call Messer's name and wave him over.

She wasn't sure whether she should follow him or not but the decision was made for her when Messer leaned over and whispered, "See them? That's Tommy and his closest crew. My brothers are usually with them, but they're in jail right now. They should get out sometime next week."

The group called to Messer again, this time louder and more insistent. People started to turn and stare at Messer and her. Messer sighed, "C'mon, they'll wanna' check up on me. Like I'm some little kid…" He muttered the last part bitterly. Messer led her through the crowded aisles, making a space for her to walk through without being crushed.

Most people ignored them but some of the guys rolled their eyes at Messer, Liv assumed that they were jealous that he had been called over by the head honcho and they hadn't. She was starting to understand why people resented the kid brother. They hadn't really done anything to get in with the group but they got the same privileges as if they had because of their siblings, and it seemed Messer had two hard core greaser big brothers.

Messer approached the table warily, not like he was afraid of any of the greasers sitting there, but like he was tired and didn't have enough energy for whatever they wanted.

"Hey Mess!" Most of the guys said enthusiastically, except for one who just glared at them, looking annoyed.

"Hey guys." Mess replied, less than enthusiastic. It wasn't like when he was talking to her earlier.

"So any news on when your idiot big brothers are getting out?" The question came from the guy sitting in the middle of the booth, surrounded by greasers on all sides. He reminded her of an alley cat, lean and tough. He had black hair and green eyes with bronzed skin and full lips; he would look regal if he wasn't so slouchy.

"Uh, yeah," Messer replied distractedly. He was eyeing an empty table across the crowded diner. "They should be getting out sometime next week, if they behave themselves."

The leader rolled his eyes while the other guy chortled, "_If._" Stressed one of the guys, he sat at the end of the table. He had a humorous air about him and a cheerful disposition. "I wouldn't put money on that!" He said.

The leader stopped laughing and shook his head, "They'd better keep their act together in there. We're being swamped out here by those damn…" He went on to call another group, she assumed the socs, a long string of curses that made her eyebrows shoot up. She had grown up in a house hold of men but they—especially her dad—had been extremely careful when it came to swearing around her.

Unfortunately the boy on the end noticed her reaction and turned to her, the other greasers forgotten.

"Well hello! Who's your friend here, Messer?" Naturally the rest of the table turned to inspect her. They all gave her the once over, making her feel distinctly uncomfortable, then grinned and nudged each other. Each of them gave Messer a knowing look that she didn't like one bit.

_Oh boy, _she thought,_ if any of my uncles were here…_

Messer glared at them and introduced her, "Guys this is Liv. She's _Soda's niece._" He put a specific emphasis on the last part. She thought maybe it was to make them leave her alone. Remembering how protective her uncles had already seemed this morning, it probably wasn't a bad bet.

The table sobered instantly and she smiled inwardly, mentally thanking Messer. "Hi." She said. They all looked at her funny. Uh oh, maybe you weren't supposed to say hi when meeting these greasers. Maybe they wanted her to kiss the leader's ring or something.

But the guy in the middle smiled and introduced himself, "Hi. Tommy Shepard. This is Brad, Chris, Russell, and Ricky." He gestured to a guy on either side of him for each name. Each of the boys was big, tough and had more muscle than Liv could even dream of. The one who had originally addressed her was Ricky, he seemed nice enough. In fact all the guys gave her a smile, much more respectful smiles than the ones they had given her before they heard who her uncle was.

Liv gave them a small smile, eager to escape before the small table that Messer had spotted was taken.

"Yeah, well, see you 'round." Messer said, seeming as eager to go as her.

"Wait!" Tommy stopped them, "Mess, where'd you get the gash?"

"Huh?" Messer asked, confused.

Tommy rolled his eyes giving him a 'duh' stare. "The one on your forehead, genius."

"Oh." Messer put his hand on his forehead, feeling the bandage as if to remind himself that is was still there. "Accident in the garage." He replied.

Tommy rolled his eyes, "Jesus kid! You gotta' learn to be careful—"

Messer cut him off, ushering them away from the greaser table to the open seat that another couple had spotted, "Yeah, yeah! Steve already gave me the speech!"

They arrived at the table just in time. Liv snatched the seat away from the girl who had nearly reached it. She might have felt bad another time but her feet were killing her and against her better judgment she really wanted to hear the story about Dally and Johnny.

The boy glared as them as they took their seats but Messer stood up and put on a menacing façade. He may not be able to fight but he looked pretty scary to her. The guy, apparently not wanting to look bad in front of the girl, called Messer's bluff and took a step closer to him, Messer's face didn't change but his eyes flashed to Liv's and she could clearly read the 'oh crap!' look in them. She hoped the guy didn't notice. Liv stood up beside Messer. True, she hadn't the slightest idea on how to throw a punch but she wouldn't let Messer fight this guy alone.

That's when Tommy stepped in. He didn't even do anything, not really. He just leaned over the back of the booth and glared at the guy, "Problem?" He asked. The rest of his gang, all incredibly large, buff guys, straitened their backs, threatening to stand up. They guy backed down and yanked his girlfriend's hand, pulling her in another direction.

Liv could see how being the kid brother, especially when he didn't know how to fight, could suck.

Liv and Messer took their seats. The table was right next to the window, nestled in a corner giving them enough privacy that Liv was sure they wouldn't be overheard. The table was one of those taller ones and the chairs were like bar stools, giving them a higher elevation than the other people around them.

Messer was smiling ruefully back at Tommy, who's gang had turned around giving their full attention back to their food. "He runs this town. This is their hangout, he practically owns the place." Messer sighed. "Sometimes I wish they were bad people, so I could hate 'em."

Liv smiled, "I know the feeling. But they aren't. So you can't."

Messer smiled at her reasoning. They obviously loved Messer like a brother; they were only trying to look out for him.

"Anyways," Messer said, slowly becoming his normal self, "Dally and Johnny." He said the names with relish, adoration in his eyes, "They're every greaser's hero. Everyone wants to be like them when they grow up, except, ya' know, without the death part." Liv nodded, made sense to her.

"Well first I gotta' tell you about their gang, actually your family's gang. How much to do you know?"

"Well, I got the difference between a gang like the uh, what're they called, the River Kings?"

Messer nodded, "They controlled some territory back in the 60's and early 70's."

Liv nodded, "Yeah them. I get the difference between them and a gang like my dad's, a group of friends who stick together."

"Ahh, a good start! Very important distinction." Messer smiled at her.

"So your dad's gang used to be him, 'ole Two-Bit Matthews, Steve-o, Sodapop and Darry. You know all them."

Liv nodded. They were the ones that raised her. Messer continued, "Most of 'em are still pretty prominent in the greaser community. Two-Bit runs the biggest greaser bar in town, Soda and Steve are the ones who can fix cars, Darry helps keep a lot of kids outta' trouble…it's why those guys backed off when I said you were Soda's niece, Tommy owes Soda big time, I think it had something to do with Soda finding Tommy after a bad rumble and gettin' him to a hospital instead of lettin' him die on the streets." As Messer talked his Tulsa accent and grammar became more pronounced. "Every one of those guys owes your dad's gang in some way or another. That and no one would want that gang to have a vendetta against them. No one.

Liv was only beginning to realize the kind of power her family held in the town. It was a little intimidating.

"Now, because you asked about 'em I can assume you've never heard of Dallas Winston or Johnny Cade."

Liv nodded. What else could she say? Actually, I met them in my dreams a few nights ago?

"Well Dally and Johnny were also part of your family's gang. Dallas was the biggest, baddest greaser you could ever meet!"

Liv recalled him from her dream and couldn't help but agree what Messer's statement.

"And Johnny, well some people say he was the only person Dallas ever cared about. The only one he was willing to die for. And I guess that's true, cause in the end that's what he did."

Liv got a sick feeling in her stomach, maybe she didn't want to know.

"One night your dad and Johnny, who were real close too, went out walking. They stayed out way late; fell asleep in the lot or something." The lot? The one she's noticed one her way here this morning? "A couple of socs pulled up, real angry cause Johnny and you dad had been flirtin' with their girlfriends and they got to fightin'. Held your dad's head underwater, they were gonna drown him!"

Drown him? _Drown him? _Why had her father never said a word to her about this? Ever? He hadn't ever mentioned any of this before.

That's probably why she decided right then and there that she couldn't ever talk to her dad about this. If he hadn't brought it up before then he wouldn't ever bring it up now, he'd probably just get angry at her for asking about it.

Messer was still talking, "So Johnny, of course, is seein' his best friends being drowned, what's he gonna' do? He pulls out a switch and stabs the soc."

Liv swallowed with and audible 'gulp!' She could just imagine that poor boy from her dream, Johnny, pulling out a switch and slicing the other one, Bob, to ribbons.

"So Johnny and Pony, scared outta' their wits, run to Dallas, who has experience with this kinda' thing. He sends 'em on the run, to this old church out in the country. They stay there for a while and one day when Dallas comes to check on them a school came out to have a pick nick at the old church. Problem was that your dad and Johnny had been pretty careless with their cigs; they left one without putting it out, set the church in fire. Three or four kids were trapped inside."

Liv gasped, "Did they die too?"

"What? No! Pony, Johnny and Dallas saved 'em. Got 'em outta' the church just in time! Became heroes. But Johnny didn't get out alright, got a real bad burn on his back. Died in the hospital a few days later, after this huge rumble where the greasers whooped the socs asses! Anyway, Dallas couldn't take it. He loved Johnny like a brother and when he died Dallas went crazy. Grabbed a heater—"

Liv interrupted, "A heater? What's that?"

Messer looked at her like she was crazy, "A gun, Liv! A gun!"

"Oh," She said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Messer rolled his eyes, "You'll get used to the terms eventually, don't worry." That seemed to be Messer's catch phrase, 'don't worry'.

"Anyway he held up a liquor store. The cops had him surrounded but he refused to put the gun down. Aimed it right at the fuzz, like he was ready to shoot them. So the cops shot him, didn't have another choice. The whole gang saw it happen, he called them up and told them his plans. Found out later that the gun Dallas had wasn't even loaded, he just wanted to die but didn't want to do it himself, I guess."

Liv swallowed, a dull, throbbing pit formed in her stomach. Her heart ached for these boys who lost so much, everyone in her father's gang who lost friends. She felt pity build in her system. It was almost like now that she had the story she could see the evidence clear as day. The evidence that they were still hurting, that something was still missing that none of them could replace. Aside from Darry, not one of them had gotten married, not one of them had moved on.

She and Messer ordered food and chatted about other things. She learned that he lived in Tulsa his whole life and had two older brothers, twins that had always watched out for him. His father was a dead beat, living God knows where, and his mother was a nurse, which was good because whenever the guys got too roughed up they could go to her and not the hospital, they couldn't afford it.

Liv listen politely but her head was spinning. What if she could save them? What if it wasn't just a dream? What if she could change the world they lived in, for the better? What if she could heal five broken hearts and bring three more back from the dead? She bit her cheek, _shut up, Liv! _She couldn't think like that—too many ifs! She should be glad for what she has.

Messer walked her home through the neighborhood and no one bothered them. Whether it was because of her and the threat of what her uncles might do or him and the threat of what Tommy's gang might do that kept undesirables away she wasn't sure. She could see the driveway of her house—it was empty. She really didn't want to go home just to stew on what she'd learned so she asked Messer to bring her to her Uncle Darry's house, there was sure to be people there she thought.

Messer dropped her off and she saw that she was right. There were people there, Steve and Two-Bit inhabited the living room, watching the news on the small T.V. Maybe not ideal company but it was better than being alone.

She walked in and joined Steve on the couch, not saying a word.

**Thanks to all the reviewers last time! You saved many puppies! I'm really excited for the next few chapters, review this one and those ones will come out sooner!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey so some of you asked for a love interest so I'm putting in a love interest. Guess who it is?**

**Don't worry, it won't dominate the story.**

**Also some of you want her to go back in time like **_**right now**_**. But I'm not going to do that, I gotta tie up the time traveling loose ends first, but in about two chapters I think she'll be ready.**

**Also Messer and Liv will be spending a good amount of time in the 60's. It will not just be one chapter and done, for the bulk of the story they'll be in the 60's so…yeah.**

Liv settled onto the couch, Two-Bit smiled at her but said nothing and Steve made no indication that he saw her enter. She watched the local news in silence, the anchorman frowned as he told them that the two 'criminals' who had been caught stealing from the corner grocery store would be released from jail later this week. The story sounded oddly familiar to her, and it annoyed her that she couldn't place it. The pictures of the offenders flashed over the screen. Under each picture was a name in big, bold print.

**James Messer Levi Messer**

Oh! They must be Messer's older brothers! That's why it sounded so familiar to her! She took a closer look at the pictures, inspecting each face for tell-tale signs of shared heritage with the Messer she knew. They all had the same bronze skin and dark hair, that much was obvious, but aside from their coloring, the only features she could see that they had in common were their eyes. They were all the same shade of dark brown. She noted though that Messer's eyes were kinder, much less hardened than these two.

She first inspected James. If she recalled correctly he was the older of the two by six minutes. He was built like Messer, except where Messer had baby fat this guy had nothing but smooth, hard muscle. He was hulking; _he must work out_, she thought, _or at least beat up a lot of socs_. She could tell that he was the leader of his brothers, it was in his expression. It had a sort of confidence that Messer could never portray.

When she was done looking at James she glanced over to Levi's picture. She blinked; it was all she could do to keep from squealing. He had to be the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. Where his brothers were large he was lean, she could tell from his mug shot that he was shorter than his older brother but still much taller than her. He wasn't nearly as big James but she could tell that he could hold his own in a fight. He had a smudge of grease running across his left cheekbone and one half of his mouth cocked up in an easy, smug smile. She bet that it drove the police insane, the police _and_ the greaser girls. Jealousy poured through her veins as she remembered the tough talking girls Messer had pointed out to her earlier today.

As quickly as the pictures appeared they were gone. The loss of his picture left her feeling empty and she kicked herself for spending so much time analyzing James. She pictured Levi in her mind and was surprised at how well she could recall his sharp features.

The anchorman went on, chattering about some local politics. She took a deep breath and commanded herself to forget about Levi Messer, it's not like she could ever have him anyways. Instead she found herself thinking about the diner today, specifically the fight that nearly occurred between Messer and the other greaser.

Liv had been ready to defend Messer, to fight with him. The only problem was that she had no fighting skills. What so ever. The only fight she had ever been in was with another girl who had mistaken Liv for the girl that her boyfriend was cheating on her with. The girl had attacked with no warning and it turned into an all-out cat fight. It wasn't till a teacher broke it up that the girl had realized her mistake and by that time Liv had three bright red scratches across her neck and various bruises. Pony had been furious.

Her dad had of course talked with her before about what to do should she ever be in a situation where she needed to fight, but in Arizona there wasn't really ever a need. What he said was that if there was ever a reason that she needed to fight for her life that all rules and fairness went out the window. He told her to bite, scratch, kick and scream. He said to aim for the most sensitive parts she could hit.

The thing was, back here in Tulsa fights seemed to break out all the time. The fights she could get into were probably not life or death situations and she didn't want her only defense to be biting and pulling her opponents hair, she doubted that would do much for her street cred.

She looked at Steve. He was tough and she needed an ice breaker, might as well be this.

"Hey, Steve," He looked up at her raising an eyebrow, a silent queue for her to go on. He seemed sort of surprised that she was addressing him; Two-Bit did as well for that matter. "I was wondering, could you teach me how to punch?"

"You don't know how?" He asked incredulously.

Two-Bit looked up from the television. "Your dad never taught you?" He asked.

Liv shrugged. "There was never a need. I've only ever been in one fight."

"With who?" Steve asked, looking more interested.

"Uh, it was a case of mistaken identity…" She said, really not wanting to get into this. She just wanted to learn how to punch, "Look can you show me or not?"

Two-Bit popped up instantly, "Don't worry, _I'll_ show you!" Hah, _don't worry; _he stole Messer's catch phrase. Two-Bit threw a triumphant grin in Steve's direction.

Steve narrowed his eyes at Two-Bit and shook his head, "She asked_ me._ And she made the right choice!" Steve laughed at Two-Bit's heavily offended expression.

Liv smiled, it seemed that both of them would be teaching her how to punch. She couldn't complain; she needed all the help she could get.

"Alright," Steve stood up and hauled her to her feet, standing on her right. Two-Bit stood on her left, scrutinizing her position.

"Alright," Steve repeated. "First thing's first. Your thumb needs to be _outside _your fist, okay? If you keep it inside you _will _break it when you throw the punch." Liv watched her uncle demonstrate the correct way to hold your fist when punching. He was in his element here. Maybe she outta' have him teach her more self-defense stuff after this, it was the only time he'd spoke _to_ her, instead of _at _her. Plus she could always use the practice.

Liv nodded and adjusted her hand so that her thumb was no longer tucked inside her palm, but instead wrapped across the bottom of her curled fingers. Two-Bit inspected her hand and nodded his approval.

"Maybe she should stick out her middle knuckle a little, drive it home?" Two-Bit suggested.

Steve thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Let's give her the basics first."

Two-Bit nodded, understanding Steve's point. "Alright," Steve continued, he tapped the flat part between her first and second knuckles, "you see that? You don't punch with that. Tilt your fist down and make the impact with your first knuckles, got it?" Liv did as he told her and tilted her fist downward.

Two-Bit nodded, "You'll hurt you hand if you use the flat part."

"Be sure to keep your wrist strait when you punch." Liv blinked trying to remember everything her uncles told her. Turns out there was more to this whole punching thing than aiming your fist and throwing it.

Steve shifted his stance so that his legs were shoulder width apart. "Stand like this." She copied his position as best she could.

"Now when you punch the power comes from the back leg. Twist your torso and follow through. And listen to this: _don't aim for the face_. It doesn't do as much damage as the ribs or stomach will, plus you're a beginner and the body presents a bigger target."

"But in the movies they always punch the bad guy in the face!" She whined.

Steve rolled his eyes, "The face has a lot of hard bones. It's a lot like punching a brick wall."

Liv's expression twisted into one of distaste at the mental image of the pain you'd feel when you punched a brick wall.

Two-Bit laughed, "Exactly."

She spent the next fifteen minutes or so practicing punching. Her uncles held old clothes in front of their chests for padding and instructed her to hit them as had as she could. They laughed at most of her pitiful attempts.

"I'm just trying to get the form down!" She yelled in annoyance as Two-Bit began to chuckle.

"Darlin' forget your form. If you don't put more push behind the punch you won't get very far in a fight!" He burst into laughter at her disgruntled expression.

"Here," Steve said taking Darry's wadded up sweatshirt and placed it in front of him, "You're afraid you'll hurt us. Trust me, you won't. No matter how hard you hit you won't do a bit of damage, alright Liv? Now hit me."

Liv lined up her position and ran through her mental checklist.

Feet shoulder width apart? Check.

Thumb outside? Check.

Fist cocked downward? Check.

Aiming for the torso? Check.

She could hear Two-Bit chuckle at her concentration but paid him no mind. Taking a deep breath she pulled back her fist and let it fly strait at Steve, putting as much force behind it as she could.

The impact was much bigger than her previous ones and she smiled triumphantly at Steve's grin, "There ya' go sweetheart!" He seemed genuinely proud that he was able to teach her how to punch.

He uncles ran through other moves with her for the rest of the afternoon. The day had turned out to be a lot more fun than she had anticipated when she woke up that morning. They taught her to kick, punch and how to get out of a hold.

She laughed as Steve and Two-Bit grappled with each other, finally Steve managed to pin Two-Bit to the ground Two-Bit forfeited, tapping his fist twice on the floor in rapid succession as a sign of giving in.

Two-Bit popped right up after Steve let go. Once he settled down he looked at Liv quietly assessing her. Apparently she passed his tests because he smiled and left the rooming saying, "I'll be right back!"

She looked at Steve who shrugged, "Who knows with Two-Bit? Alright short-stack, put 'em up!" She grinned like the Cheshire cat and started to spar with Steve.

A few minutes later Two-Bit re-entered the room carrying a small box in his hand. Steve eyed the box uncertainly, "Are you sure?" He asked.

Two-Bit snorted, "You aren't?"

Steve nodded, "Fair enough." Two-Bit handed Liv the box and she opened it carefully, within the box sat a long black handled switchblade. Liv picked it up in awe, it was dangerously beautiful. There was a raw power behind it that enraptured her.

Two-Bit smiled, "Alright, here's the deal, _do not_ pull that out unless you are in serious danger. It not just for show, it can kill people. I'm giving it to you because I like to know that if you're in danger you'll have some protection, good protection. That thing wasn't cheap."

"It wasn't?" She asked stupidly.

Steve laughed, "He wouldn't know, he didn't pay for it!"

Two-Bit grinned proudly, "I stole it way back when I was a kid. 'Round your age really! It's yours now; a lot of great people have used it! Me of course, but Steve and your dad have borrowed it a few times and then there's Dally of course…" His voice trailed off and for a moment Two-Bit and Steve weren't there. She didn't know where they were, but it was somewhere, far, far away. Her throat felt raw as she recalled Messer's story. Two-Bit's eyes suddenly cleared and he was back with her. "Anyway, lotta' greats! Use it wisely my young niece," He said solemnly, but there was sparkle in his eye.

"And whatever you do,_ don't _let your daddy see it!" Steve said, joining them in the present.

Liv nodded and folded the switchblade up, storing it in her pocket.

She and her uncles wrestled each other, by the end of the day she felt she was a pro at fighting, though her uncles could tell when she was getting cocky and quickly put her in her place. She giggled and squealed whenever Two-Bit pinned her because she learned pretty quickly that he liked to tickle his victims when he had the down. This would inevitably cause her to call desperately for help from Steve. As reluctant as he seemed, Liv thought that maybe he liked playing hero for her, or maybe she was just reading too much into his proud smile.

She was in a situation much like that when her dad, Soda, Darry and Alana came home. She was half pinned under Two-Bit, and Steve was struggling to pull her out from under him. She shrieked with laughter as Two-Bit tickled her stomach and yelled for Steve to help her. They were so absorbed that none of the noticed the audience until Darry cleared his throat.

They all turned to stare, Pony was smiling at his daughter while Darry was rolling his eyes, Soda looked excited to join and Alana laughed as she walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Uh, Uncle Steve? This hurts my arms." Steve still had a hold of her arms from his attempts to pull her out from under Two-Bit.

"Wha'? Oh!" Steve said. Soda grinned and tackled Two-Bit pulling him off of Liv, they began to grapple. Pony grinned and Liv noticed her dad had changed from his work clothes into regular street clothing. Without warning he tackled Steve and a real fight began, Steve and Soda vs. Two-Bit and Pony.

Two-Bit and Pony looked like they were near winning until Liv stepped in. Using what she had learned that day she tackled Pony, easily bringing him down with a well-placed punch to the gut.

She was grinning triumphantly when her dad looked up at her, astonished. "Livi, where'd ya' learn that?"

"We taught her, Steve and I!" Two-Bit boasted proudly. Liv felt warmth spread through her belly as Steve nodded and Pony looked impressed and surprised with his daughter's new skill.

They ate dinner at Darry's that night, and it was an experience Liv had never had before. The table was crowded and several conversations flowed at once, and somehow that chaos worked. Liv let the noises flow over her and she reveled in the anarchy.

Liv and her dad walked home that night, the air felt cool against her skin. When they entered the house she quickly excused herself for bed.

She liked Tulsa, much more than she thought she would, but at the same time something felt missing, dinner should have been louder, and more exciting.

She knew when she had made her decision, even if she hadn't consciously admitted it to herself.

She was anxious to get to sleep. All she could think about was getting to bed and dreaming. There was something she could do to fix the situation. She could erase the pain and heartache; she could take back the sorrow that plagued each and every one of their eyes. She could make their lives whole again. She had her reservations but as she took a deep breath, preparing herself to see the boys again, she felt excitement grow in her veins, she was going to go on a real adventure. She felt certain the boys would come to visit her again, or that she would be visiting them, however it worked.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to dream.

**Yeah, I know this chapter was pretty much fluff but I wanted to build the relationship between Liv and her family.**

**Okay, so I know that in the Outsiders neither Pony or Steve ever used Two-Bit's switch but I threw that in there because liked it. Also PLEASE REVIEW. I want to know if you like the story and enjoy where it's headed.**

**If I don't get reviews I probably will stop updating as often, simple as that… Sorry!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, I would like to respond to a review here real quick. **

** Dude, it's a story. It's made up, and from what I understand of **_**fanfiction**_**, I can make up whatever I want to. Yes, you were correct when you said I must not have researched time travel before writing this, because I didn't. But really, since time travel ISN'T REAL, I'm not sure where I could go to for accurate time travel information. So I'm making up my own.**

** And yeah, I do want Johnny and Dallas alive, what's wrong with that? If I want to keep them alive I will. I know that they'll die someday, but I want it to be when they're old. There are plenty of inaccurate stories on this website. Go police one of them.**

**Happy reading,**

**MetroHarbor **

**AKA the fanbrat.**

**P.S. was name calling really necessary? You got your point across.**

As anxious as Liv was to dream it was difficult for her to fall asleep. It usually took about half an hour for her to lose consciousness to the pull of her dreams but tonight she had too much energy. She was too apprehensive about her decision. Yeah, she had decided to do what she could to help, but was going back in time really a good idea? There were too many things that could go wrong, she didn't know the semantics of time travel—they hadn't offered Time Travel 101 at her old school, but weren't there a lot of things that could change? And what would happen to her body when she traveled, would it go with her? If it did her dad would freak out when he found her missing.

Finally she gave up on trying to force herself to sleep. Instead she pulled out the album box from her closet and began looking through the pictures again, hoping to lull herself to sleep. It didn't work, half an hour later she was no more tired than she was when she started.

She pulled every album out of the box, thinking that she would go through them and read every caption they had—if that didn't make her eyelids heavy nothing would, but when she pulled the rest of the photo albums on to her bed she noticed an old, worn book left at the bottom of the box. The cover was so used and tired that it nearly blended in with the cardboard of the box and Liv could tell that the pages were tattered, well used.

Carefully she picked up the book; she didn't want to rip the pages any more than they already had been. She touched the depleted lettering on the cover, _Gone With The Wind._

Liv smiled; her father used to read her this book. When she was younger he read it to her every night, it was his favorite. The copy she had wasn't nearly as tattered as this one though. She opened the first page and was surprised to fine writing on the inside cover of the book, like the rest of the book it was so worn down it was nearly unreadable.

_Ponyboy, _

_I asked the nurse to give you this book so you could finish it. The doctor came in a while ago but I knew anyway. I keep getting tireder and tireder. Listen, I don't mind dying now. It was worth it. It's worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for. Some of their parents came by to thank me and I know it was worth it. Tell Dally it was worth it. I'm just gonna miss you guys. I've been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you're gold when you're a kid, like green. When you're a kid everything's new, dawn. It's just when you get used to everything that it's day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that way, it's a good way to be. I want you to tell Dally to look at one. He'll probably think you're crazy, but ask for me. I don't think he's ever really seen a sunset. And don't be so bugged over being a greaser. You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want. There's still lots of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don't think he knows. _

_Your buddy, _

_Johnny._

Liv blinked as she read the note over and over. The letters were nearly gone but she could still make out what it said and it was like a kick to the stomach. The tears came quickly and she couldn't stop them, didn't even try. They poured over her face and she grabbed a pillow, muffling her sobs, praying her father wouldn't hear and come to investigate.

She didn't know how long she cried for, it felt like hours but in reality it was probably only 15 or 20 minutes. She exhausted herself completely and then she was finally able to achieve what she had been working at for hours. She fell into a deep, coma like sleep.

For the second time in a week she found herself wandering the after-death airport. This time though, she knew right where to go. She found them easily; they were sitting with their backs to her. She could see Dallas' white blond hair and Johnny's much darker hair but the person sitting between them was definitely not Bob. Bob's hair was thick and brown, this person's hair was black as midnight, and, from what she could see of his profile when he turned his head, he looked a lot like…

"_Messer_!" He turned around at her call and there was no doubt of his identity. Messer sat between Johnny and Dally, grinning like an idiot.

"Hey Liv!" He shouted, unaware of her shock at his presence. He chatted happily to Liv as she dubiously crossed the floor and lowered herself into a chair on the opposite aisle from Messer. "This is _so cool_. It's Dally and Johnny, we've gotta' help 'em Liv, we just gotta'! You can save them, and I can come to, the chick at the counter gave me permission! This is gonna' be so cool, goin' back to the sixties! I just went to sleep and I woke up here! We've been waiting for you for forever! What time to you go to bed anyways? And—"

Dallas abruptly cut Messer off before he could go any further in his rambling, "Do you ever shut up, kid?" Dallas asked. Messer looked up at him with fascination, no less enamored with his hero, even when his hero was telling him to shut his trap.

"How is he even here? I thought only I could go through!" Liv asked, exasperated. This was all so confusing.

Johnny shook his head, "Liv, I realize this is a lot, so let me try to explain. When I said that only a child somehow connected to the conflict could pass through time to help save us, I was wrong. It turns out it takes a kid like you to act as sort of a catalyst to start the process. When you made the decision to come back here and go back in time for us, fate sort of took off and that was all we needed to get things ready for you." Fate? What did he mean by _fate_?

She heard a small throat clearing from behind her, "If I may explain." Liv turned to see the airline employee, the same woman from last time. She looked strange without the counter blocking half her body, yet standing by Dallas the two looked somehow…_good_ side by side. Her eyes darted around and she looked oddly fearful.

"I need to be quick, they're watching." She began. Liv looked around.

"Who's—?" Liv started to ask but the lady cut her off.

"When problems such as this," She gestured toward Dallas and Johnny, "arise in the cycle of life and death it takes several key aspects to fix it. First we need the souls that have been wronged, in this case Mr. Winston and Mr. Cade. We need them here, if they are lost wondering the airport then there is nothing we can do. Secondly we need a door that will allow someone to pass through to the correct time period to fix the deaths that occurred. Lastly a catalyst is needed. That is you, the door will only work if we have someone connected to the conflict, but the person cannot come from that same time period, for obvious reasons,"

Liv nodded and she continued, this time though the woman had a spark of mischief in her eyes that made Liv wonder what the woman was before she came here, after all she _couldn't_ have been born an airline employee at the after-death airport.

"A lot of times when cases like these come in, they never get help. The management doesn't like to admit they're wrong so they don't try to correct their mistakes. They don't really like their employees correcting them either." Ahh, Liv thought. So she's taking a risk helping us here. That must be who she's afraid of. "But some of us help anyways, we have to give lost souls justice." Liv felt and intense rush of gratitude toward the woman.

"Once we have the three aspects that allow the door to be opened there aren't many restrictions."

_Huh, that must be how they got Messer in then. _Because Liv had decided that she was going back the door could be opened, after that they were free to invite who they wanted.

"You have decided to go back, but you are woefully unprepared," Liv bristled, not quite sure if she had been insulted, "I took the liberty of inviting your friend, Mr. Messer, to help you." Okay, Liv supposed she followed the logic, Messer knew the town backwards and forwards, he probably even knew most the major players from sixties, he could be a big help.

Liv looked at Messer, who was nearly bouncing out of his seat in excitement. "Okay! Can we go now?" He asked. Liv blinked from his rapid compliance. He didn't even seem to hear what the woman was saying, much less think about any consequences that might occur. She herself was still skeptical. She sighed, looked like she would be playing the voice of practicality.

"We can't leave tonight." She said and Messer's eyes swung to her, aghast at her refusal.

"We are completely unprepared, and we don't even know the details of time traveling. Can we bring things back with us? What will happen to our bodies? How long will we be there?"

Messer looked ready to argue with her but the airline woman stepped in on Liv's side, "She's right. You need to take time to prepare for your mission."

Messer looked so upset that Liv started to feel bad for him. He looked kinda like a kicked puppy. The woman glanced around looking worried again; she must be running out of time, "Listen, you can bring other things back with you but no more than you can carry; one bag with a change of clothes and money. You need to wear clothes from the time period you're traveling to, okay? Find some tomorrow. Meet sometime during the day and discuss a plan! Go to bed around the same time, next time you come here we'll be gone, just walk through the door!"

"Wait, why—?" Liv started to ask but the woman cut her off.

"No time to explain, listen," Her words became hurried she was speaking so quickly that she tripped over some of her words, "time will pass much faster there so you can be in 1966 for a longer period of time than what will pass in the present. While you're in 1966 bodies will be provided for you," Liv made a pained expression, she didn't want to know exactly what that meant and she definitely didn't want to know it worked. Judging by the eager expression on Messer's face, he didn't agree.

"Your bodies in the present will stay asleep and experience coma like symptoms. When the job is done the door will present itself to you, all you have to do it walk through it and you'll wake up!" She glanced around looking paranoid, "I'll leave you to discuss," She nodded at Dallas and Johnny. "Tell them what they need to know. They're watching. I have to go."

Liv swung her head around, looking for whoever this woman was afraid of, she didn't see anything. Neither did Messer. "Wait!" Liv called as the woman began to rush down the hall; she stopped and turned to look at Liv, "What's your name?" Liv asked.

Her face softened just the slightest. "Kate," She said. And then she was gone.

"Kate," Dallas repeated the name as if he was testing it out on his lips, suddenly he blinked and shook his head and his face cleared. He got right down to business, scrutinizing Messer and Liv. Bob rejoined their group taking a seat beside Liv, forming a type of circle. She didn't feel odd sitting next to Bob because he was a soc, he was just another kid she was gonna try and help. Messer didn't seem to have a problem with him either.

"What does she mean? Tell us what we need to know?" Messer asked; he seemed determined not to make a fool of himself.

Johnny nodded, "We're going to give you all the information that we can about our last days on earth. Where we were, what we were doing, who we were with, and we'll give you some pointers on what to do when you get there."

Liv let out a breath; she didn't like walking into any situation unprepared, it made her feel vulnerable, half the reason she hadn't wanted to move to Tulsa. This would really help them. Johnny began to explain the last day that he and Ponyboy were in Tulsa, the day of Bob's murder.

He told them about how the day started with Liv's father being jumped, the story sent chills down her spine. He continued on about the movie theatre about some soc chicks named Cherry and Marcia. They got to the murder, (With Bob interjecting a lot on this part) the runaway, the burning church, the rumble and the deaths. They also added little tidbits of information, like her Uncle Sodapop and some girl named Sandy along with the gangs allies for the rumble, just in case. They went over strategy next.

"The best thing is to just stop Bob's death. Wouldn't that stop the others?" Messer asked, Liv nodded, agreeing with Messer's plan.

Johnny pursed his lips, thinking over Messer's statement. Finally he nodded, "That's a start. If you stop that murder it will save Bob, but I have no idea if it will put Dally or I in the clear."

"What do you mean?" Liv asked, thoroughly confused, if they kept Bob alive wouldn't that cause a chain reaction that would eventually manage to keep Johnny and Dally alive too?

"It would stop us from dying the way we did, but I don't know if we'd be completely saved, we could still, say, bite it in the rumble. You're going back so you'll wanna get the job done right." Liv nodded, able to see his point.

"How will we know when the job's done?" Messer asked. He was taking the words right out of Liv's mouth.

This time Bob answered the question, "The door will pop back up. Whenever fate, or whatever, decrees that the job is done, it shows you the way home. All you have to do is walk through it and you'll find yourselves back here."

Liv began to think this over, she thought they had a good chance of completing their mission, with her and Messer teamed up together, what could go wrong?

"Listen," Now for the first time Dally interjected. "You may be their a little longer, if just saving Bob doesn't cut it."

"Wait, how much longer?" Liv asked; she was worried for what could go wrong. She didn't want to be out for too long or else her dad might get suspicious and check up on her.

Dallas shook his head, "Don't worry, not long enough that anyone will notice," Liv didn't quite feel that he was being truthful, but she brushed those feelings off. He couldn't lie about something as important as this; she must be just worried about the whole scheme.

"Anyway, there's an abandoned house at the end of Picket Street, that's two streets over from the Curtis house. No one will notice if you hide out there for a while." Liv swallowed, she was really going to do this.

Suddenly the edges of her dream began to blur, just like last time. "Aw, damn!" Dallas cursed, "Someone's tryin' to wake you up. Alright you two, meet up tomorrow and prepare. See you guys on the other side!" _Hopefully, _Liv thought.

Even though she was completely alert in her dream being woken up from it was like being pulled through maple syrup. She felt slow and sluggish.

"Livs! Livi, you gotta get up, hun. Soda and Steve'll be here soon to take you to work with them! They said you liked it last time!" Her dad was gently shaking her awake but all she wanted to do was roll over, close her eyes and let blissful sleep take her back to her dreams. "Your friend will be there, what's his name? Misser?"

With a groan Liv rolled over and rubbed her eyes, she needed to go to see Messer. She blinked at her clock; it was only 7:15. Her dad grinned, "C'mon sleepyhead, rise and shine!"

She followed her dad outside her room, he walked onto the kitchen and she entered the bathroom. It took her only half an hour to get ready.

She looked in the mirror, without a doubt this was going to be a long day.

**Hey so either next chapter or the one after that is when she'll be going back.**

**I sorta skipped the explaining part because it would have been a lot of typing for something we all already know. **

**Review if you want but please, there is no reason to be rude. And if you do decide to leave a review and be rude, don't disable your PMing so that I can't respond. If you're willing to write something then be willing to take ownership of it.**

**Also anyone have any ideas of clothes they could wear? I think I got Messer (maybe) but I'm clueless on Liv.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to me!**

Liv, Soda and Steve took the same path to the DX that they had the day before. Steve had warmed up to her but he was much more strict than any of her other uncles, she would have to work much harder to have him wrapped around her finger.

When they arrived at the DX Messer was already there, unlike Liv Messer was nearly bouncing out of his seat in excitement. Liv didn't understand why, all she felt was exhaustion at the prospect of traveling back in time; it was a daunting task. Messer was probably just over enthusiastic at the idea of meeting all his heroes.

"Liv!" As soon as Messer saw her he nearly leaped out of his seat, he had obviously been waiting for Liv.

He ran toward her but Soda snagged his collar and pulled him back before he could collide with Liv. Steve eyed him suspiciously.

"Whoa there, buddy. Happy to see us?" Even in his euphoric state Messer couldn't miss the ice in Soda's voice.

_Oh God,_ Liv groaned internally. She'd heard that tone often enough with her father to know what was coming.

"Uncle Soda, trust me, you don't know what you're doing." She told him. Oops, wrong thing to say. Soda's face crunched into a frown. He tugged Messer back so he was a good foot away from Liv.

"Liv, I think I know a bit more about teenage boys than you do." He pulled Messer Back and glared at him, "Listen up you little punk, I introduced you to my niece so that you could show her around, not so you could—"

"_Oh God_! Uncle Soda, Messer _does not_ have a crush on me!" Liv said; her face was alight with embarrassment. She couldn't believe that her uncle was even implying such a thing! Now, if he was implying it about a different Messer, like the one she saw on the news then that was different!

Messer shook his head rapidly; he looked like a terrified 6 year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar, except that Messer's hand was, in fact, nowhere near Liv's cookie jar.

"Ugh," Liv groaned and covered his face. If any customers came in during this little debacle she would just die of embarrassment. Just lie down and die.

Her uncles still eyed Messer warily, as if he was going to start macking on Liv the second they turned their backs. She decided to try another tactic, "Uncle Soda _I_ don't like Messer like that!" That wasn't _as_ hard to believe, in her uncle's eyes at least, as _Messer_ not liking _her_ romantically.

Soda and Steve looked relieved but still glared at Messer. "Listen, we're going for a walk. We'll come back in, say, an hour or two." Soda looked ready to deny her permission so she quickly tacked on, "If he tries any thing I'll use the moves you taught me last night, Uncle Steve!"

Using the endearment 'uncle' seemed to pacify Steve and he nodded at Soda, "Just let 'em go. What's the harm? The streets are still crowded and Liv can look after herself."

Liv nearly sagged with relief, grabbing Messer's arm she rushed out without another look glance behind her. She wanted to tell them that eventually they would need to get comfortable with her bringing boys around, she was _sixteen_ after all, but she didn't want to push her luck.

Messer looked even more relieved than her to get out of there, and Liv got them feeling that he didn't often feel like _leaving _the DX. It was his haven.

Liv took the lead but checked with Messer before taking any turns because she didn't want to get them lost (although it would be hard to get lost anywhere in Tulsa if she had Messer with her) and she also didn't want to lead them into the bad side of town.

As they walked they talked about their mission, what else would they discuss? "We gotta' do it! I mean we _are_ doing it!" Messer proclaimed.

"Whether we're doing it or not isn't up for debate here. I know that we have to go, I get that, the thing I'm worried about is being prepared." Liv stated. Messer frowned, deep in thought.

"Well, getting the things we need won't be hard." He reasoned. "My mom had a bunch of old clothes stored up in our attic, enough for me and you, so we can blend in just fine."

Liv mentally pictured the miniskirts and plunging necklines of the clothing she'd seen in the photo albums. She sighed; she would need to wear them to fit in.

Messer was still talking, "The other thing he said we would need is money, I can get us that, easy."

Liv felt a twinge of guilt making Messer provide everything. "I can get us some too. We'll be fine on cash."

Messer nodded, "Okay, but remember, small bills is best." Liv blinked then nodded. _Huh, never would have thought of that._ No greaser in the sixties had twenties on them, 'cept for the drug dealers, probably.

"We have a place to stay, the abandoned house on Picket Street, we should be fine. Well, except for you, that is."

"_What?_" Liv asked, offended. What was that supposed to mean?

"Liv, don't be angry, but you didn't grow up in Tulsa or even as a greaser. It shows." Liv was still offended. It was true, she and her father had grown up middle class but she thought she could pull off greaser girl just fine.

"We got the clothes covered. You'll have to wear makeup," Liv shuddered, don't get her wrong, she loved makeup and all, but she didn't love how the greaser girls did it. It was ugly, it looked like they'd done it with their eyes closed, "and that should cover the looks, but your voice is still off. You need to make it lower. And talk with an accent."

"I don't think bad grammar constitutes an accent." She muttered under her breath.

"What?" Messer asked.

"Uh, nothing. I said I can do the accent." She lied.

Messer nodded looking slightly wary. "Then how about we walk over to my house and we can get the clothes? My mom's at the hospital for her shift," He said.

"Sounds good," Liv agreed; it was starting to get hot outside. Messer guided them back toward the DX. She passed business she recognized from the day before, she could tell they were about a block away from the DX and the diner they had eaten lunch at yesterday.

They rounded a corner; Liv was so busy staring at her surroundings that she didn't even notice the large group of well-dressed boys on the other side of the corner—that is until she ran into them.

It pulled her back into reality quickly, especially when the large coke (or pepsi?) the guy was holding splashed onto his crisp white shirt.

The guy looked really pissed, "What the _HELL?"_ He snapped,"You are _fucking _kidding me! Why don't you teach your girlfriend to watch where she's fucking going!"

Liv stumbled back from the slight shove that accompanied his words. Not an 'I am going to kick your ass' kinda' shove but more of a 'get the hell away from me' shove. Either was Messer was pissed, and Liv wasn't too pleased either.

"Hey, watch it!" Liv snapped right back, the guy turned his menacing look from Messer to Liv. Crap. Maybe she shoulda' kept her mouth shut. Those lessons her uncles taught her last night were no match for the pure muscle and menace this guy put off.

Messer didn't appear to share her sentiments. He got right up in the guy's face and said, "Why don't you get the hell off our turf, soc?" for someone with no bite, Messer sure had one hell of a bark.

The guy responded the way Liv probably would have if she'd been in his position. He hauled off and slugged Messer. Hard. In the face.

Messer went down, and quick. The other socs in this guy's entourage didn't bother to pile on, it was only this guy against Messer and that was already an unfair fight.

Finally when he seemed to be done he stood up over Messer. Messer, the poor guy, was on the ground. Bruises already flowered on his face; the best that could be said was that at least he hadn't curled into a ball or anything. Actually he took the beating pretty well, considering.

Then the guy laughed. Liv did the only thing she could think of.

Feet shoulder width apart? Check.

Thumb outside? Check.

Fist cocked downward? Check.

Aiming for the torso? Well, no she wasn't. But this guy really, really deserved to get slugged in the face.

She pulled back her fist and let it fly, with the adrenaline pumping through her system she had more power behind this punch than any in her practice.

She could tell by the immediate burning pain in her had that her fist had met its target. She watched the soc double over and clutch his eye, groaning. Behind her she heard shouts; some of the voices were actually familiar, though she couldn't concentrate on much besides how much her hand hurt so she couldn't place any of them.

She stumbled back and leaned against the fence, grimacing in pain clutching her hand to her chest. She was sitting back against the fence and when she finally looked up from her hand she saw a surprising scene. At least it was surprising to the little 'ole girl from Arizona. The onlookers that had gathered didn't seem too shocked.

She watched as Tommy Shepard's gang pummeled the socs into the ground. There were more socs than greasers but what the greasers lacked in numbers they made up in passion. Each one looked beyond pissed, especially when they glanced at Messer.

Messer! Liv remembered, poor, poor, Messer. He lied, unaware, in the middle of the street fight. Her hand still throbbed as she watched the greasers yell triumphantly as the socs turned and fled.

Loud whoops and cheers were heard even as the audience began to disperse. She recognized each of the guys from the booth the other day but the only one whose name she remembered was Tommy and Ricky, the pleasant one.

At least, they were all she _thought_ she recognized but two others stood with the group, two others that she knew immediately.

They were Messer's brothers, James and Levi. _God_, she thought, _I am so screwed. _Levi was way hotter in person than he was on the T.V. Liv didn't understand, the reported said they didn't get out till next week!

_For God's sake! _She thought,_ your best friend is laying on the concrete, possibly in a coma and all you can think about is how hot his brother looks? Pull. Yourself. Together._

Liv blinked and refocused her attention on Messer, studiously avoiding his brothers. "Messer?" She asked. She wondered if maybe he was knocked out. That happened sometimes right? "Mess! Get up!" she said. She did not want to turn around and face his brothers and their entire gang alone.

Finally Messer groaned and rolled over. He climbed to his feet and stood beside Liv. He rubbed his face gently, "Ugh, my face hurts," Messer moaned.

Speaking of body parts in pain, Liv examined her knuckles. Purple bruises were only starting to form and one small cut adorned her third knuckle. She wasn't sure where the cut had come from but it added an unpleasant sting to the throb.

Liv blinked and mentally tuned back into what was happening around her. Messer was being yelled at by his oldest brother James, she missed the part where he asked if Messer was okay and what exactly happened. Apparently Messer's answers hadn't satisfied his oldest brother, "—can't believe this! You had to antagonize a group of socs into getting your ass kicked? Today? You had no back up—"

"Well, Liv was here!" Messer protested.

Liv could've killed him, right then and there. Several pairs of eyes turned to stare at her, silently assessing her. Liv swallowed, then Ricky, the nice one she'd met yesterday at the DX, stepped forward and smiled at her.

"That looked like quite a punch you threw there," he said casually. Liv wasn't sure if he was being truthful or if he was making fun of her, but it sure had felt like quite a punch.

She smiled politely and stepped closer to Messer, who was being looked over by James with a critical eye. She waited patiently for Messer to introduce them but he didn't seem to get the message. He just kept messaging his eye where he had unfortunately taken quite the hit. Finally, when she could no longer take the awkwardness any more Liv surreptitiously rammed her foot into Messer's.

"Ow! Wha—? Oh, Uh James, Levi, this is my friend Liv. Liv these are my older brothers, the big one's James the small one's Levi."

Liv smiled any tries to act surprised, not wanting to let on that she already knew which was which, you know she didn't want to seem like a stalker.

"_Small?_" Asked a highly offended sounding Levi. He narrowed his eyes at Messer before giving Liv a charming smile—no doubt one of many in his arsenal. Really, lips like that were wasted on a boy.

He stepped toward her and reached out for her hand, at first Liv assumed he was going to shake it but instead he pulled it forward in his much larger ones and closely examined her knuckles.

"You musta' put a lotta' force behind that punch. Saw you take 'im down. Pretty good—for a girl." Liv yanked her hand away, partly because she was offended on behalf of her gender and partly because it worried her how nice it felt to have her hands held by his bigger, rougher ones.

She shook her hand in the air a few times, like she'd seen guys do in the movies after they punched someone, "I'm fine," She told him.

Messer held back a grin at the slightly astonished look on Levi's face. Apparently girls didn't often pull away from him. She couldn't blame 'em.

"Well, anyway's, Liv and I gotta' get goin'. Real busy down at the DX ya' know!" Levi narrowed his eyes at his little brother.

"Really? Cause we were just down there. Looked like a slow mornin'." He said suspiciously.

"Uh," Messer said, looking (for once) at a loss for lies.

Liv covered for him smoothly, "Actually my Uncle Sodapop said he expected a big rush soon. Buncha' socs got their tires slit last night. 'S gonna bring in a lotta' business." She slid a glance at Messer, wondering if the lie she'd made up on the spot was even applicable. He looked pretty impressed, thought whether that was because of the lie or because of her imitation greaser accent she wasn't sure.

Messer rolled easily with her lie so it must have been good enough, "Yeah, looks pretty slow but, ya' know, business picks up like _that_!" Messer snapped his fingers on the word _that _to emphasize his point.

Levi smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, his eyes were alight with the glee one find when presented with a challenge, it made him look a bit like a cat chasing a mouse though who—or what—the mouse was Liv wasn't sure. "I'm sure Soda and Steve can handle a couple 'a tire changes themselves, and besides you can't go to work lookin' like that! C'mon we'll get you cleaned up at the Diner."

At this point Messer's oldest brother James intervened, "He's right. We needa' put disinfectant on those cuts."

After much arguing Messer's part it became clear that he was stuck, Levi and James, not to mention the rest of the group, wouldn't let him outta' this. Liv actually thought it was cute, in a brotherly love sort of way.

"Alright," She said when Messer finally gave in, "I'll see you 'round!" and turned to head back to the DX fairly confident she could find it on her own.

Before she got far though, someone's fingers latched onto her arm and spun her back around, "Where do you think you're goin', short-stack?" Messer asked pointedly.

"_Messer, _I can find my own way back to the DX!" She moaned, embarrassed.

"I'm sure you can, little lady, but you're coming with us!" Levi declared quite brazenly.

Liv rolled her eyes, "Wanna bet?"

That was not the right response, because as unused to rejection as Levi apparently was, rejecting the group as a whole was unheard of.

A loud chorus of arguments followed this announcement from Liv, insisting for various reasons that she come with them until finally James stepped in.

"Alright, look here, you're hurt we need to fix up your hand. You're a friend of Messer's, and you stuck up for him, we all saw it. Around here that means you just made seven new friends, and now you getta' free lunch. What's better than that?"

"Yeah?" Liv asked, still uncertain of whether she should accompany Messer, "Where I come from girls ain't s'pose to walk off with some boy they just met. 'Sides, my daddy'd skin me alive if he found out!"

She turned to leave but didn't escape before Messer made his plea, "C'mon Liv. Please come with me? Just one meal, then we can ditch these idiots and go get the, uh, stuff we need."

His brothers and their gang were so absorbed in the fact that Messer called them idiots that they didn't even notice him stumble over his words. Apparently, before Liv, Messer was much more docile. Well, they'd better get used to this speak-my-mind-Messer because Liv wouldn't let him go back to whatever he was before she came along.

So that was how, 15 minutes later, Liv sat in the large corner booth at the Diner with Tim, his gang, Messer and the most gorgeous man she would ever have to eat in front of.

**Hey sorry, It'll be probably two chapters before they go back but I needed a few extra chapters to squeeze in her romance, ya' know. Build it up.**

**Review and tell me what your favorite line was!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is short, sorry, but I wanted to just get something out there!**

As they'd walked over to the diner Liv had noted the differences between Levi and James, it was much easier to see when they were in person. They must be fraternal twins, Liv thought, because they looked no more alike to her than normal siblings would. James looked a bit more like Messer actually; his bronze skin and hair matched Messer's perfectly whereas Levi looked more like he had a really good tan than his skin actually having the mocha color that his brothers inherited. She wondered how that worked.

Apparently the boys had the run of the place because when they entered they walked straight into the kitchen without a glance at the employees. It was amazing the effect they had on the atmosphere of the small diner, everyone in the place stopped and stared at them as they entered. It was clear who the top crew in Tulsa was.

Some of the greasers approached and clapped Levi or James on the back, congratulating them on their early release from prison. Others looked terrified at the idea of going anywhere near Tommy Shepard or his crew.

A large group waved Tommy and the gang over and they left promising they'd be right back. Messer rolled his eyes, "C'mon," he pushed Liv in the direction of the kitchen, "They'll be awhile."

"But they said they'd be right back," Liv argued.

Messer just shook his head, "Trust me on this Liv, it'll be 20 or 30 minutes before they're done."

"Okay," Liv said, obediently following Messer, "but in Arizona when people say they'll be right back they're only gone for 5 minutes." She muttered.

"You're not in Arizona, Liv." _Oh boy_, Liv thought, _you don't have to tell me that._

Once they got into the kitchen Liv eyed Messer warily. One cut she could handle, but how do fix bruises? Just ice 'em?

Messer nodded to the freezer and asked Liv to get him some ice for his face. It really did look bad. Her first encounter with the socs hadn't gone so well. Liv pictured the soc from her dream in her mind, Bob. She wondered if he treated people like Messer as cruelly as the soc she saw today did.

She hoped not because she didn't want to save his life only for him to destroy countless others. And she would have to save his life, it was the only way to protect Johnny and Dallas.

Liv opened the freezer and searched the shelves for a bag of ice or some type of ice pack. Finally she spotted one. She pulled it out and carefully placed it over Messer's eye where the biggest bruise was forming.

Messer let out a groan and Liv winced in sympathy, "Sorry!" she squealed.

"Chuck!" Someone yelled loudly from behind them, making Liv jump. Levi walked into the kitchen, the rest of the gang spilled in behind him. Liv shot Messer a triumphant look. "Didn't we teach you ladies first?" Levi asked.

He pulled Liv away from Messer and gave the ice she'd been holding to James. James hid a smile and shook his head at his younger brother before turning to Messer to help fix the poor kid's face.

"That was some nice work, by the way. Where does a pretty little thing like you learn how to punch like that?" Levi asked, putting as much charm into his voice as possible as he took her hand and ran her knuckles under the cool water. The sting faded almost instantly.

"My uncles." Liv said flatly. She wouldn't play his game, no siree. She knew what boys like him were capable of, they made your head rush and your pulse pound then they dumped you like yesterday's leftover chicken pasta.

Live tugged her hand away from Levi's, "I'm fine," she said curtly; her hand really did feel better, and she left to help Messer.

She found that there wasn't much she could do, though. James had taken care of his wounds while the rest of the gang was circled around Messer making wise cracks.

"Hey Mess, I think I disagree with people who say you learn more from getting beat up than you do from winning. Do you feel like you've learned a life lesson?"

"Of course he has, it's '_if he plans to go against socs ever again he should bring his girlfriend along!_'" The gang erupted into laughter and Liv felt herself blush. Maybe she should have let Messer fight his own battle.

"Hey!" James snapped, "Chuck did fine! He took the beatin' a lot better'n any 'a you pansies would!"

"Yeah," Levi agreed, "and Liv is not his girlfriend." Liv turned around and glared at Levi, he was not giving the reassurance Messer needed.

The gang's laughter died down as James cleaned up Messer's wounds and bandaged them properly.

Afterward, the gang left the kitchen to sit in the same booth they had yesterday. Liv and Messer trailed along behind them, as Liv was about to follow the group out the kitchen door Messer grabbed her hand and yanked her back.

Quietly he gestured toward the door that led from the kitchen presumably to the outside. Liv found herself grinning as she and Messer quietly snuck out, leaving the toughest gang in Tulsa behind.

***Levi's P.O.V.***

Levi glanced back at the kitchen door again, though he wasn't sure why. He knew that they had snuck away, it was obvious. And he couldn't go after them either. He just got out of jail, he and his brother needed to reestablish themselves as part of the toughest gang in Tulsa, not go running after their younger brother and his friend.

Still he continually caught himself glancing back at the door, wondering if maybe they were just looking for something in the kitchen. It was a weak excuse and he knew it, and it seemed James knew it too because when he caught his brother staring at the door for the ninth time in four minutes he felt it was time to say something, "They're not in there," he whispered.

Levi frowned and turned away from the door, trying to act like he wasn't some stupid love struck twelve year old, "I know. I'm just worried about Messer. He needs to be careful."

James rolled his eyes and turned his head away for a moment to add some comment on the story Ricky was telling before turning back to his brother, "Messer's fine and you know it, but if it makes you feel any better he and the girl are definitely not an item, bro."

Levi blushed and elbowed his brother. He was not going to follow his baby brother around in hopes of getting a date with his cute friend. That was not happening, he told himself sternly. His reputation was at stake here!

Still he couldn't help but picture Liv in his mind for the hundredth time since meeting her. Her round face, her blonde hair, usually he went more for brunettes but he was more than willing to make an exception this time.

Brad made some smart-alec comment that Levi pretended to enjoy. He laughed and resolutely told himself to quit thinking of Liv and concentrate on the here and now. He was free and back with his family. He should be the happiest guy in the world.

**Okay, hope you liked it! This was more of a filler chapter so yeah…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey so sorry I haven't been able to give you a real chapter recently but I had to give up my last two weeks to drivers ed which is the dumbest class in the history of the Earth. Though I guess it really is a necessary class for some people…**

Liv paced back and forth in her room, finding herself with too much extra energy. A medium sized canvas messenger bag sat at the foot of her bed; in it were the clothes she was taking back in time along with money, a pair of heels and the knife Two-Bit had given her. She'd wanted to take back a photo with her for sentimental reasons but it would be difficult to explain exactly what it was if she got caught with it.

Liv sat back down on her bed with a 'humph!' She'd been trying to get to sleep for hours but she was too excited. Nerves were racing up and down her spine as she fidgeted with her hands, unable to sit still.

She was dressed in her normal pajamas so that if her father checked on her, as he was known to do, he wouldn't find her in some odd 1960's dress, if he did he'd probably have a heart attack, considering the clothes she'd found in Messer's mom's attic weren't exactly appropriate. Messer disapproved, he thought she should sleep in one of the dresses so that they would be prepared.

Liv grabbed the bag and shoved it under her covers before determinedly marching out to the living room where her father sat in his favorite chair. Liv pulled her sleeve down to hide her injured knuckles from her father, wanting to avoid an explanation.

Pony look up at his daughter as she entered the room, "I thought you went to bed early," he said suspiciously.

Liv shrugged, "I can't sleep."

Liv took a seat in the chair beside her father. In Pony's hands was an old worn paperback. Liv knew exactly what it was but asked anyway, "What are you reading?"

Her father smiled, it was an old familiar smile that made Liv grin along with him, "_Gone With The Wind_," he told her. Liv felt a deep pang in her chest when she recalled the note Johnny left in the other copy she'd found, the one that was now hidden with her albums.

Liv smiled and took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, motioning for her father to continue. Pony did, reading the book aloud for Liv like he did when she was younger. Liv found herself nearly drifting off to the soothing sound of her father's voice.

Realizing that now would probably be a good time to make her exit she bid her father a good night and left the room.

When she entered her bedroom she threw herself down on the mattress. She had barely mumbled a prayer before she was out.

xxXxXxx

Liv strode into the airport with the confidence only achieved when one knew where one was going without needing to be told. She caught up with Messer lounging on the uncomfortable airline chairs, their ghostly pals were nowhere in sight.

Messer looked up when he saw her coming, "Liv! _Where have you been_? I've been waiting for, like, hours! Letsgoletsgoletgo!"

Liv smiled, Messer had the enthusiasm of a young child on their first visit to Disney Land.

Liv gripped the canvas bag that she just noticed was slung across one shoulder. She stared at the door; a sense of foreboding mixed with excitement at the prospect of the looming adventure mingled in her chest.

Nodding to Messer the two approached the door cautiously, well Liv did at least. Messer flung the door open and Liv flinched at the bright light that assaulted her retinas. Messer's hand gripped her wrist tightly as he flung both of them through the door and into the world beyond.

xxXxXxx

Liv stumbled into the darkness; the first thing she noticed was the smell. The stench of anxiety that filled the airport was replaced with the unmistakable scent of fresh, cold, night air.

Messer came stumbling out beside her. Liv listened to leaves crunch under his feet as he moved through the darkness.

"Where are we?" He hissed.

"Hell if I know, that's' your job," Liv muttered back.

Messer took a few steps forward before muttering, "Ah-hah!" Liv didn't know what got him so excited; it was all pitch darkness to her.

"We're in the woods by the park!" He told her excitedly.

"What? What park? The one by my house?" Liv asked.

"Yeah, the one with the fountain!" Liv's stomach dropped with dread.

"The fountain? Where they try to drown my dad?"

Messer didn't have time to answer before she was off, sprinting to the source that her troubled mind.

"Liv!" Messer hollered after her.

Liv spotted the fountain through the trees coming to an abrupt halt at the tree line. Messer caught up with her quickly, he was huffing and puffing and Liv felt a split second of guilt at making her friend rush after her.

Messer grabbed her arm and yanked her back into the cover of the trees, "They're not there!" He told her, for a second Liv was terrified that it was too late, that they had missed the fight and Johnny and Dally and Bob would die all over again (or technically for the first time), but when she looked closer there was no tell-tale blood stain on the dirty cement, nor were there any signs of a recent scuffle taking place.

"So…where are they?" Liv asked.

Messer made a sound of impatience in the back of his throat, "I think we're a day early, remember that's what Johnny told us might happen?" Liv didn't actually but she refused to voice her ignorance, "I think, I think it's late." Messer muttered.

_Well, duh_, Liv thought. She could've figured that out. She could hardly see five feet in front of her. She turned to inspect Messer, there was just enough light to see his face and notice that something was missing, "Messer! Your bruises! They-they're gone!"

Messer lifted his hand to his eye, and where ugly purple bruises had taken up residence on his face earlier that day there was now only smooth, unbroken, creamy caramel skin.

He touched his skin cautiously, expecting there to be some type of tenderness but there was only the slight pressure of his fingers, "Wow, you're right!"

Liv rolled her eyes, "Uh _duh_!" She said, "Didn't Dally tell us the bruises would be gone? Or was that the airport lady?"

Messer ignored her comment, "How's your hand?" He asked.

Liv had completely forgotten her own injury, mostly because she couldn't feel a thing. She lifted it to her face and scrutinized it; her skin was as pale as ever, no bright res gash mauled her knuckles.

"Huh," she said, "neat!"

Messer now rolled his eyes at Liv.

Messer sighed, "Alright, that's really cool but now I think we need to find our home base." Agreed, her body was feeling strangely tired. Maybe traveling through time took up a lot of energy. She remembered Dally telling them about and abandoned house on Picket Street. Messer turned and set out in what she assumed was the right direction.

"Wait!" Liv called. Messer stopped and turned around. He watched Liv dig through her bag for a few moments until she pulled out a wicked looking black switchblade.

Liv flipped it open and slashed the air a few times until she felt comfortable holding it. It was too bad she didn't get any lessons on how to use it properly_. Oh well_, she figured_, how hard could it be? Point, stab, rip, tare, blood_. Right.

"Where did you get that?" Messer appeared as awestruck at the blade as she had been.

"My uncle Two-Bit gave it to me!" Liv announced proudly.

"That's Two-Bit's blade? The one he carried when he was a kid? _The one Dallas Winston used?_" Messer practically vibrated with excitement.

Liv grinned, "Cool, right?"

Messer smiled then raised an eyebrow, "What are you going to do with it?"

Liv shrugged, "I figured I'd get it out in case we ran into anyone on the way to the house."

Messer eyed her disapprovingly, "We're not here to kill people, Liv! We're supposed to be saving them!"

"It's just for protection! You don't have a blade?" She asked skeptically.

Messer sniffed, "I do. But I know how to use mine! Put that thing away!"

Liv rolled her eyes, "It's just in case, better safe than sorry!"

Messer rolled his eyes but realized that he would not win this fight, Liv was obviously fascinated by her blade, "Alright, whatever. C'mon Batgirl."

The walk was quick; the house was near the park. Liv was happy when they reached the front door, realizing that she was still in her pajamas. The house wasn't much, one bedroom, bathroom small kitchen and living room. There was a quaint porch but she doubted they could use it, no need to broadcast their use of the abandoned house.

Liv set her bag down in the bedroom, Messer decided that as the man he should take the old couch in the living room. The bed was far from glamorous, the blanket was rotting and the pillows smelled like moth balls but it was a roof over her head and besides, Liv didn't plan to be here for long.

Liv laid down on the mattress, exhaustion taking over her body. She guessed it was around 2 am, but if her_ real_ body in her _real_ time was asleep why was she feeling tired? She contemplated the confusing pieces of time travel that she knew about until finally her over worked brain drifted off to sleep.

**xxXxXxx**

Messer lay on the couch, his eyelids drooping. He'd wanted to stay awake and keep watch but somehow his body seemed to realize that it was 2 am in this world. He quickly lost his battle with the sand man, not even his excitement at the idea of meeting his idols tomorrow could keep him up.

Messer smiled; an awesome new friend, and an amazing adventure ahead of him. He knew it'd be dangerous but he felt confident that he was ready for anything!

**Hey I hope you like this chapter. Guess who they're meeting tomorrow? Guess! You're right! THE GANG!**


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